How Not to Shorten Life

Can we guard ourselves against this shift of power away from the life-preserving force? Can we sustain the will to live?
The physiologist Rubner declared a generation ago that the best way to prolong life is not to shorten it. Today we are beginning to recog­nize that the first danger to length of life may not be the invading I'.crm, nor any physiological process beyond our control. We are begin­ning to understand that the first line of defense is in our emotional health.
If we are emotionally sound, we will be physically sound. Body and mind are one. When we truly want to be well, to live long and in health, we have the power to do it.
If grown children, who have long left their parents' home to live I heir own lives, come to a parent's bedside and say, however sincerely, "Live for our sake. We need you," the parent may be touched, but not really convinced. A mother whose children are immersed in their own lives knows when she is no longer needed as a mother. If she has not curried forward into her later years an interest apart from her children, something really meaningful to her, then she may not want to live.
The same may be true of a man who has retired from his business or profession, if he has lived solely for his work. When his work is published he may have nothing left to live for.
We need not come to this pass. If we live to our full capacity, not merely as parents, not merely as workers, but as mature, well-rounded human beings, then we will have something yet to live for even when work and parenthood are ended.
There are measures we can take, if we so desire. We can learn to r'i.ii.I our emotional health as we guard our physical health. We can make every effort to develop our fullest capacity as human beings.