時尚雙語:每天抽50支菸還能保持健康？

The Old Artist

The other night I was watching television with great interest as a journalist interviewed a ninety year-old bloke who still runs his own business, is sharp as a tack and as productive, funny, creative and happy as ever. He is an artist who sculpts, draws and paints and with the help of his young (sixty five year-old) wife, manages his own successful commercial art gallery. He also teaches (and entertains) budding Picassos.

His positive attitude and his laugh were infectious. He flirted (harmlessly) with the female interviewer, he wheeled out a string of witty one-liners and he was clearly a charismatic, charming and engaging character who loves life. He made the interviewer laugh so much that she had to stop and regain her composure several times.

Finding the Good

During the interview it became clear that our artist was the eternal optimist. He had an amazing ability to find the good and to find a reason to be happy. Not too long after his first wife passed away from cancer he started to have coffee (tea actually) with one of his "sexy young students", who would become his second wife within twelve months. "I loved my first wife very much, but she wouldn't want me to sit around moping", he said.

The other thing which captured my attention during the story was the ever-present cigarette between the fingers or lips of our artist. When the interviewer questioned him about his apparent good health, he put it all down to laughing and having fun. "My goal in life is not money or accolades" he said, "it's to laugh as often as possible, to do what I love with people I love and to have fun. While others do all kinds of strange things to their bodies and spend their lives worrying about getting sick, my health plan is laughter and fun."

Confusion

So there the 'fitness expert' sat in his hotel room (I was interstate) somewhat conflicted. Here was this old guy who's been smoking for seventy (or so) years, who has outlived the average western male by over a decade and is still going strong! That's not meant to happen. Shouldn't he have died long ago? Throw into the equation the fact that he eats meat daily (apparently that's gonna kill you), has a beer or two most days and has never been near a gym in his life and you need to ask a few questions. Of course the experts are gonna say it's just dumb luck or amazing genetics but what if it's not?

What if he's done something (consciously or not) which has enabled him to reach his tenth decade on the big blue ball in such good shape despite his lifestyle, despite his lack of exercise and despite his liking for charred animal flesh?

Well, he has.

Killing Ourselves with Stress

Without knowing it (but then maybe on some level he did), he has avoided the biggest health risk in western society; stress (and all the destructive, cancer-causing hormones and chemicals it produces). While so many of his contemporaries have worried themselves into sickness and an early grave, the happy artist has laughed his way into old age.

Consider these factors:

He is passionate about what he does, he experiences joy every day, he laughs a lot, his life has meaning and purpose, he is appreciated and needed, he loves people and is loved in return, he is creative and expresses that creativity, his mind is stimulated and challenged, he is still learning, he is optimistic, he chooses not to worry and he lives a relaxing and fulfilling life.

Now, before you misinterpret what I'm saying, I'm not suggesting that we all run out and buy ourselves a pack of Marlboro and some clay. Of course smoking is harmful, as is an unhealthy diet and a sedentary lifestyle. What I am saying is that for some people the biggest determinant of health or sickness in their life will be their ability to effectively manage stress (fear, anxiety, anger). Keeping in mind that situations, circumstances and events don't produce stress, we do.

Current research

Current research is telling us that more than any other variable, stress will kill us the quickest. Long-term chronic stress will see our body consistently producing high levels of cortisol (a destructive hormone), which has been strongly linked to obesity, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, various cancers and a wide range of other chronic diseases. The precis' version? Stress equals cortisol, cortisol equals disease, disease equals premature death.

Compare the level of health of Sally who eats badly and doesn't exercise for a month with her twin sister Julie who is under immense emotional and psychological stress for the same amount of time. Sally gains two kilos. Julie ages ten years and her health declines dramatically.

So, I'm not suggesting that you take up smoking (of course) but I am suggesting that you learn to manage your stress. In fact, while you're at it, eat well, exercise regularly, live a healthy lifestyle and laugh a lot too. If you don't already have a stress-management strategy, then now might be the time to make that happen. If you don't manage it, it will manage you.

老藝術家

一天晚上，我正興致勃勃地看電視，一名記者正在採訪一位90歲高齡還經營着自己的事業的傢伙，衣着入時，依舊富有作爲，幽默，快樂，富有創造性。他是一位雕刻，繪畫藝術家，在年輕（65歲）妻子的幫助下，成功地經營着自己的藝廊。他還教授萌芽中的畢加索（也以此爲樂）。

他積極樂觀的態度和他的笑聲很有感染力。他和女記者調情（沒有惡意的），說話幽默機智。顯然他是一個有魅力的人，迷人，富有魅力，熱愛生活。他使那位女記者開懷大笑，以至於她不得不幾次停下來，重新恢復鎮定。

發現好的一面

採訪中發現，我們的藝術家是一位永遠的樂觀主義者。他在發現事物好的一面和開心的理由方面有着驚人的能力。在他第一位夫人去世後不久，他就和他的一個性感年輕的學生喝咖啡(確切地說是茶)，12個月後這個學生成了他的第二任夫人。“我很愛我的前妻，但她也不想我整天無所事事，沉浸在哀痛裏。”他說道。

還有一件引起我極大注意力的事情是，採訪中我們的藝術家手指間或嘴裏始終有一支菸。當記者問他關於他良好的健康狀況時，他把這一切都歸因於笑和開心過日子。“我的人生目標不是金錢或榮譽，”，他說，“而是儘可能地笑，和愛我的人做我愛的事，開開心心。當其他人對他們的身體做着各種各樣奇怪的事情，把生命浪費在擔心生病時，我的健康計劃就是大笑，開心過日子。”

疑惑

所以他賓館房間裏有一位健康專家（我是洲際的）。這多少有些矛盾。竟然有個老傢伙，抽了七十年(大約)的煙，比西方平均男性多活十多年，還是這麼健康矍鑠。這不可能。他不是早應該就死了嗎？實際上，他每天吃肉（顯然這個可能殺了你）,大部分時間裏喝一兩瓶啤酒，在他生命裏，從來沒去過附近的身房。你肯定有一些疑問。當然，專家會說，只是他該死的運氣罷了，或是神奇的遺傳因素，但如果不是呢？

除了他的生活方式，缺乏鍛鍊和喜愛吃燒焦的肉的嗜好，如果是因爲他一直做着（自覺或不自覺的）可以讓他在這個世界上健健康康地活到100歲的事情呢？

是的，他的確是這樣。

壓力殺手

還不知情地（可能他某些程度上知道），他避免了西方社會的最大健康殺手：壓力（它產生一切破壞性，致癌荷爾蒙和化學物質）。當他的同齡人們都在擔心自己陷入疾病，英年早逝時，這位開心的藝術家笑着活到了晚年。

考慮這些因素：

他對所做的事情懷有熱情，開心度過每一天，經常笑，生活有意義有目的，他被崇拜被需要着，他愛別人也被人別人愛着，他富有創造力，並將它表現出來。他的思維被刺激着挑戰着，他仍在在學習，他樂觀，選擇不去擔心，過着輕鬆充實的生活。

現在，在你誤解我的話之前，我並不是建議大家都出去買包萬寶路和一些泥巴。當然，吸菸是有害的，因爲這是一種不健康的飲食和靜坐生活方式。我說的是，對有的人來說，影響他們健康的最大決定因素是她們有效掌控壓力（害怕，焦慮，生氣）的能力。記住，情景，環境是不會產生壓力的，而是我們自己製造了壓力。

最新研究

最新研究告訴我們，壓力成爲殺害我們最快的兇手，遠遠超過了其他因素。長期不斷的壓力承載於我們的身體，產生大量皮質醇（一種破壞性的激素），這種皮質醇和肥胖，高血壓，心臟病，糖尿病，各種各樣的癌症和其他大量慢性病有着密切的關係。具體的關係？壓力產生皮質醇，皮質醇等於疾病，疾病等於早逝。

Sally貪吃卻一個月都不運動，她的雙胞胎姐姐Julie，一個月以來也處於情緒和精神壓力中。將她們的健康狀況作比較。Sally胖了2公斤，Julie10歲，她的健康狀況急劇下降。

所以，我當然不是建議你去吸菸，而是建議你學着管理你的壓力。實際上你已經做到了，飲食適當，適時鍛鍊，過一種健康的生活方式，經常笑。如果你還沒有壓力管理策略，現在是時候制定一個了。如果你不掌控他，他就會掌控你。

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