That familiar old toast suggests that most of us would actually want to live to be 100. What if somehow we could live that long? What might we do differently right now? A survey conducted by AARP asked Americans what they might do differently if they knew they could live to be 100. As one might expect, nearly half said they’d take better care of themselves or save more money, yet significantly, more than one-third of all respondents said they wouldn’t change a thing.
It’s easy to make assumptions about the quality of life when we are faced with concerns about the quantity of life. Hollywood helps fuel those assumptions (think “Bucket List”). But many who face life-threatening illness simply and courageously accept their circumstances. That doesn’t mean they are fatalistic. Indeed, they fight hard to be well and they do all that they reasonably can to fight the progression of illness – but they don’t attempt to rewrite their life stories, or pack their bags for foreign lands.
Caregivers can attest that when our family members or patients are so very ill, what many of them want most is a return to “normal”: to be at home, to have the company of family, to be surrounded by the music, books, and photographs that make up the tapestries of their lives. Lives well lived, no matter what the quantity of time.
Of course, some of us remain incurable romantics. Ten percent of those surveyed by AARP said they would “begin another romance” if they knew they could live to be 100.
What might you do differently?
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