From Alan Cohen's newsletter

Passion for Life







I saw a fascinating movie that showed me why and how people live long and well. Been Rich All my Life chronicles the careers of a group of women who were chorus line dancers in Harlem in the 1930's and 1940's. Amazingly, they are still dancing! Now in their 80's and 90's, they have formed a small troupe called The Silver Belles, which performs for packed houses and standing ovations.

Watching their story, it was clear to me that these women, still in remarkably good health, have thrived because they love to dance and perform. They have upbeat attitudes, laugh a lot, and love each other as dear lifelong friends. A few of them have overcome cancer; one has a pacemaker; one worked on the Alaskan pipeline; and one fell in love with her soulmate and married him at the age of 70. One of the ladies fell down a subway stairway at the age of 85, injured her leg seriously, and rehabilitated herself to come back and dance. These women are enthusiastically in life for the distance, and life has blessed them to the extent that they find joy and purpose. A great model for us all!

I am reminded of the mansion built by Sarah William Winchester, the heiress to the fortune of Oliver Winchester, who developed the famous rifle. Ms. Winchester believed that in order to stay alive, she had to keep adding rooms to her mansion. So for her entire life there was always a construction project going on, until now there are 160 rooms in the house! While Ms. Winchester's project can be described as superstitious, there is a metaphysical principle behind her efforts: To stay alive, healthy, and happy, we need some project or endeavor that gets our creative juices flowing. Positive visions and joyful undertakings are life-giving. Put simply, if you have something to live for, life comes easily and naturally.

The Silver Belles have never retired from life. They are picking up steam as they go along. This is far closer to how we were meant to live than declining and fading away. We need to revisit the assumptions we have been taught about aging, career, and purpose. A life well-lived increases in purpose. If life is a dance, we can kick and tap in a club that never really closes.



Alan