• Giant Tortoise (average life-span of about 200 years)

• Oregon Sturgeon (average life-span of about 150 years)

• Eastern Box Turtle (average life-span of about 123 years)

• Egyptian Vulture (average life-span of about 118 years)

If animals, birds and fish can outlive humans without getting sick and going to a doctor for pills, we must have our intelligence all mixed up in a conceited maze of refined intellectual thinking. Could it be we really do not need to die a premature death from disease? Do we have no option other than to declare, there is no other choice than intermittent illness throughout our lifetime, leading to an early grave? A few people do live to a ripe old age because they inherited strong genes and DNA. But leaving that aside, how does the  average person live in good health, to a fully developed old age, as nature intended?

I guess most folks believe that our `advancements' in the world of science and medicine have increased our life expectancy. This is true to some extent, but it is only true in the context of keeping us alive in ill-health, despite our continuous bad habits and erroneous  lifestyles. We can alleviate the effects of an illness, but the cause lingers on, bringing with it an uncomfortable life that eventually leads to a premature, uncomfortable passing. So what can be done to remedy the situation of being a pawn in a commercial chess game of  beggar thy neighbor, performed in a world-wide playhouse?

Firstly, if we stop polluting the earth with poisonous gasses, pesticides and a multitude of other pollutants we would need less drugs to sustain our lives. Therefore it seems sensible to stop corporations from manufacturing pollutants because of their need to feed the greed of a few humans, who hold stocks in their companies. Also, self-pollution is an outstanding problem and banning poisonous smoking in all public places, inside and outdoors, is a must-do and long overdue action.

The next move in the appropriate direction to a longer healthier life would be to educate folks on the correct foods to eat and liquids to drink. Pure water should be the principal drink and alcohol consumption should be restricted to three glasses of wine a week at  the most.

All our dietary needs can be met with simple yet delicious whole foods, herbs and spices that are heart healthily and loved by every cell in our bodies. Our minds are constantly brainwashed by the advertising media educating our taste buds to enjoy refined foods  contain high levels of sugar, salt, hydrogenated fats and other harmful "tasty stuff." These foods are usually all dressed up with colorants and artificial flavors. What a concoction of poison we have produced for ourselves. And we pay good money to eat foods that bring  about illness, which inconveniently installs us in a box six foot under the ground, before our shelf-life was due to expire.

Regular exercise can help elevate the onset of many diseases and here again simplicity is the key. Walking and swimming are two of the easiest and most enjoyable forms of exercise available to most folks. A few weight bearing exercises are also useful to keep muscle tone and bone strengthening.

But the most important ingredient by far in living a long and healthy life  is the way we think. What we need to ask ourselves is "Who is it that resides inside my head that makes all the decisions for me." If our minds have become too refined, just like the refined junk foods which we eat ... that has the wholesome goodness removed ... we will be  left with junk-intellectual- thoughts.... Sophisticatedly refined, but good-for-nothing authentic... A strong spiritual soul will never allow that to happen.

Once we start to recognize the true soulful genius that we authentically are ... that lives outside our ego's perceptions and opinions ... we will start to change our way of thinking and will live to the maximum of our allotted life-span. It could well be we live to 120 years of age in good health, if we do not allow negative, erroneous thoughts to upset the balance that nature has so magnificently provided for us all.

If we could only come to realize that we are a cog in the wheel of nature and if we desire that wheel to keep on turning effortlessly, we must become one with all that exists on earth.

The sands of time in humanities hourglass is quickly running out and unless we make the correct lifestyle changes, there will not be any life left here on earth for future generations to enjoy. So let's take a leaf out of the book of the Giant Tortoise and slow down the  run-away intellectual human brain, so that we enjoy our swim in the ... Quantum Universe of Infinite Joy here on earths de-light-ful playground.