Who is the best at living the longest?
This past week I had a few minutes to spare in Washington DC, so I dropped by the National Geographic Society headquarters and discovered a project that has significant relevance to successfully solving the problem of addiction. Writer and photographer Dan Buettner embarked on a journey around the globe in search of communities that optimized lifestyle for longevity and happiness, places he calls blue zones. He boiled down his research for the book Blue Zones into principles for living a long and prosperous life. Here is a great summary of the book he did for TED:
For those who struggle with addiction, the keys outlined in the book (and the speech above) provide a road map for translating the MRC solution into reality. Let’s look at how they line up:
Manage
Successfully dealing with addiction requires identifying those things in your life that are chronic issues, and then developing strategies that appropriately keep these things in-check. When we expect to permanently solve a chronic problem we set ourselves up for failure because there is no cure or end to these issues, they require ongoing attention. Addiction, diet, chronic medical issues, time and exercise are all things we must learn to successfully manage. In Blue Zones, the keys that line up with manage include:
- Learn to move naturally. Those who live to be 100 rarely engage in rigorous exercise. Instead, they incorporate walking, gardening, yoga and other less body-stressful movements into their daily routine. Developing a healthy lifestyle free from addiction necessitates learning to move in the world in a new way, in a natural, physically and emotionally pain-free way.
- Slow down. Our culture perpetuates addictive behavior by encouraging lifestyles where multi-tasking, reliance on technology, and instant gratification become packaged in a speedaholic existence. Not so for those who live in blue zones. An important aspect of successful long-term management of addiction is learning to slow down, become conscious of how you spend your time, and align it with what is most important in your life.
- Eat and drink wisely. Food and drink are common objects of addiction, and although abstinence from alcohol is possible, we cannot stop our relationship with food. The same goes for those who struggle with sexual addiction. It is not possible to remain abstinent from sex, we are sexual beings by nature and healing requires finding healthy ways to express our sexuality. The key is moderation, balance, and of course, eating more fruits and vegetables. Red wine has also been shown to increase longevity, but if it creates more problems than benefits (e.g., abuse, relapse) it should not be on your list.
Resolve
There are some life problems that we should not manage, but solve, permanently. Homelessness, debt, acute pain, many developmental constrictions/deficits, legal problems, and suicide ideation. None of these things are healthy to manage over a long period of time, and our work should focus on resolution. Two significant problems most addicts need to resolve are lonliness and isolation. The key that lines-up with resolve is:
- Be Connected to Others. Those who live the longest put family and loved ones first. They belong to communities that nurture and protect each other. Many share their spiritual faith in community, and hang out with people that have healthy habits, both physical and emotional. I have written a lot about how the essence of solving the problem of addiction is disconnecting from object-relationships and learning to engage in healthy, intimate connections with people. But to do this very often requires resolving barriers to human relationships. These barriers include unresolved trauma that lead to isolation, developmental stuck points, and debilitating shame and grief. This work is not easy, but necessary for relationships to blossom.
Create
Many who struggle with addiction spend all their time on the pathological side of the equation. Treatments, interventions, fixes, cures, treatments….all intended to reduce or stop addictive behavior. This stuff is important, but at the same time it needs to be integrated with actions that optimize life. Sometimes taking a break from intervening on addictive behavior and directing energy to what we want out of life can actually produce the outcomes we seek. Those who live in blue zones:
- Have a clear purpose. They call it “ikigai” – the reason for which you wake-up in the morning. If your ikigai is that you don’t want to drink, smoke, or act-out today, well…this is not a very compelling reason to get out of bed, it just gets you to focus on what you don’t want! The key is redirecting your life energy towards creating what you do want.
For additional information on blue zones, checkout the author’s website: bluezones and the book.
Tags: blue zones, Create, lifestyle design, longevity, manage, Resolve
Reading this blog post has really helped me consider my husband’s addiction and even my own behavior. Considering my husband, he has a lot of addictions, most of which he is still trying not to deal with. His drinking has become a problem and more recently he acts out and leaves me and the kids for days at a time. While this is hard after reading your blog I have realized how easy it is to focus on the negative side of his addictions. How this is affecting us and him and what he is doing wrong. I rarely try to show him the positives of dealing with his problems and what he could focus his energy on instead. If I have brought these ideas up I rarely follow through on it. I think reading this has given me new hope to have him steer his energy towards something helpful.
On another note, when I look at my own behavior I notice different things that could or could not be considered addiction. Most of all I consider my eating habits and exercise. I feel discouraged when thinking about losing weight because I feel like I need to be doing some insane work out plan. However I feel like I am starting to realize that just by being more active, taking my kids on walks and even doing some gardening (which is much needed anyways!) could actually be just as effective. I hope others can read this blog and realize that simple changes in behaviour and routine can make a much larger change than they may think.
-Erika
Erika,
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. If you have not checked out the page on how to help a loved one/friend I believe will find it very useful: http://addictionmanagement.org/loved-one-friend/
You are right that changing behavior can be challenging, and small changes can make a significant difference over time. Hang in there, and know that focusing your energy on what you want to materialize (versus what you want to go away) often is more powerful in helping you achieve your goals.
J
I had never heard of the three principes manage, resolve, and create. I think it is a great tool to help an addict of some sort set realistic goals and seems withion reach. I like how it was mentioned that we expect to permanently solve a chronic problem we set ourselves up for failure because there is no cure or end to these issues, they require ongoing attention. People do this anyway even when we are talking about dieting or finishing school even. Sometimes we just expect things to happen quickly and when they dont we feel like a failure and that it is hopeless. Having reachable goals that meet reality I think is really important in order to help yourself long term. Coping with addiction is a long term change and I agree that personal relationships are key in order to make a positive change.
I really like the mange, resolve, create model of working with addiction. I have been learning lately that it is important to learn what your ongoing issues are and then try to find ways to manage them to help reduce pain and anxiety. I know food addiction tends to be an ongoing problem for me on and off throughout my life, and when I spend all of my time focusing on what I am doing wrong and how to fix it, it exacerbates the depression that comes along with that. When I focus on positive things and do things that make me happy, the issues with food usually start to get better. I understand the importance of managing addictions, but I think the ‘create’ part that is mentioned in this entry if often ignored completely. I also see the importance of resolving the problem instead of just managing the symptoms. As this article states, this should involve fostering relationships with others rather than with objects. This model of addiction seems complete in a way that many others are not.
Like so many issues in our culture — poverty, racism, lack of basic healthcare and shelter for many, child abuse — the roots and the “cure” are complex. We want a one-size-fits-all solution and we want it quickly and cheaply. And that just doesn’t happen. I grew up in a country where no one ever worried about paying if they became sick or ill or had a chronic/fatal condition. Just that burden taken from your shoulders is huge. What I love about living in the US is that Americans are so hopeful that any problem can be solved. It’s just that we don’t want to put the complex thinking and/or make the compromises that are entailed in any solution. And some things don’t have “solutions” only management. The MRC model is one of those more complex models that requires ongoing attention/care/management and the willingness to explore different pathways, to think creatively even if we don’t agree. The “create” slice of this pie is the most challenging because it has to be customized to the person; it is harder to deliver in bulk. I see a parallel with education. We used to be educated at home–working alongside our parents and communities — the teachers were the people who were actually doing the work and the educational active, not passive. Even the move into small schoolhouses retained the community part of education — older kids helped younger ones and there was a sense of learning together. This shifted when education was institutionalized and we believed that creating good workers and conformity was more important than truly nurturing the creative and curious minds of children. In the interests of convention and cost-savings we deliver one way of learning to our children and those that don’t absorb information in that one or two ways…well, we call them failures. (I celebrate the drop-out!!) I would like to apply the MRC model to our education system, our health system…oh, and then we can tackle our religious “system.” No, better not go there…
I found this post particularly interesting because this kind of knowledge or “common sense” was never taught in the early years of education (but it seems that it should be). Particularly, doctors and health classes all stress the importance of exercise to aid in overall general health (usually vigorous is stressed) but I have never heard exactly what type of exercise really helps us live longer. I have always thought team sports sounded dangerous, and that running was hard on my knees and joints. Lately I have taken up swimming and gardening as regular stress-reducing activities that I now know will not only aid my overall health and addiction prevention but also help me actually live longer without “paying” painfully from these activities in old age. I think the long term effects of our activities should be more mainstream in education and the media. Especially with activities like yoga and gardening helping us in multiple ways at the same time (de-stressing as well as being healthy and physically active). After all, with the little free time that a student has, we might as well knock out two birds with one stone.