In the year of his death, 1789,  that was an extraordinary achievement, considering also that he was active up to the last weeks of his life. Voltaire did not have the advantages of our generation in terms of advances in health care, nutrition, public hygiene etc. but he had found one of the secrets of how to live long and well.

During the final decades of a very active life Voltaire always had time to cultivate the garden of his inner self, and to work in his natural garden with his own hands. Though under constant threat of being arrested and cast into prison for his agitation and writings he persisted in being determined and positive, like one of his invented characters “Candide”.

According to a study (over a period of 30 years) by the Mayo Clinic in the United States, the actual difference in life expectancy between optimists and pessimists  amounts to about 12 years. Not bad for feeling positive about life -  a positive attitude makes for a sound mind and a sound body.

Those of us fortunate to live in comfortable circumstances are probably more susceptible to gloom and doom about our lives. We have the luxury to be dispirited, but it is not without cost. Our mindset determines  whether that scratch on our car door will darken our day or simply be dealt with as another chore on our list of things to be dealt with.  Perception is always a choice we make about whether the glass is half full or half empty. We know this instinctively but it is a lesson which we tend to forget, independently of age.

That is why we need to examine what we believe, why we have come to those conclusions and, in many cases, why these attitudes are doing us harm. All the exercise and improved diet in the world will be thwarted by a poor attitude to life and living. The habits and ways of viewing the world that need to change can only be determined by an inward gaze at who we have become. This is true at any age, but more pressing when time is running shorter.

There is no gimmick, trick or magic solution to entering the wise life –Sage Vita.  It is essentially about coming to understand yourself, introspection and deduction applied in a realistic approach to determining what you need to improve and change.  Most of  us faced with taking responsibility for how we are going to age well, simply don't know where to begin. I often suggest finding a role model and discovering their formula for succeeding. As you’ve seen, one of mine is Voltaire, but Madonna could do as well!