Brilliant take on life as it should be lived

[Guest guest]

Dr Hinohara,s Perspective

 

In case you have not read about him or his thinking, this is an

interesting forward:

 

 

 

At the age of 97 years, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's

longest-serving physicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is

legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's

International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of

Nursing.

 

After World War II, he envisioned a world-class hospital and college

springing from the ruins of Tokyo; thanks to his pioneering spirit and

business savvy, the doctor turned these institutions into the nation's

top medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman

of the board of trustees at both organizations.

 

Always willing to try new things, he has published around 150 books

since his 75th birthday, including one " Living Long, Living Good " that

has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New

Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy

life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor

himself.

 

Here are some of his views:

 

Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a

lot. We all remember how as children, when we were having fun, we

often forgot to eat or sleep. I believe that we can keep that attitude

as adults, too. It's best not to tire the body with too many rules

such as lunchtime and bedtime.

 

All people who live long regardless of nationality, race or gender

share one thing in common: None are overweight.  For breakfast I drink

coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of

olive oil in it. Olive oil is great for the arteries and keeps my skin

healthy. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too

busy to eat. I never get hungry because I focus on my work. Dinner is

veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100 grams of lean

meat.

 

Always plan ahead. My schedule book is already full until 2014, with

lectures and my usual hospital work. In 2016 I'll have some fun,

though: I plan to attend the Tokyo Olympics!

 

There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot

later than 65. The current retirement age was set at 65, half a

century ago, when the average life-expectancy in Japan was 68 years

and only 125 Japanese were over 100 years old. Today, Japanese women

live to be around 86 and men 80, and we have 36,000 centenarians in

our country. In 20 years we will have about 50,000 people over the age

of 100.

 

Share what you know. I give 150 lectures a year, some for 100

elementary-school children, others for 4,500 business people. I

usually speak for 60 to 90 minutes, standing, to stay strong.

 

Music and animal therapy. When a doctor recommends you take a test or

have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or

her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to

popular belief, doctors can't cure everyone. So why cause unnecessary

pain with surgery? I think music and animal therapy can help more than

most doctors imagine.

 

To stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own stuff. I

take two stairs at a time, to get my muscles moving.

 

Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it. If a

child has a toothache, and you start playing a game together, he or

she immediately forgets the pain. Hospitals must cater to the basic

need of patients: We all want to have fun. At St. Luke's we have music

and animal therapies, and art classes.

 

Don't be crazy about amassing material things. Remember: You don't

know when your number is up, and you can't take it with you to the

next place.

 

Hospitals must be designed and prepared for major disasters, and they

must accept every patient who appears at their doors. We designed St.

Luke's so we can operate anywhere: in the basement, in the corridors,

in the chapel. Most people thought I was crazy to prepare for a

catastrophe, but on March 20, 1995, I was unfortunately proven right

when members of the Aum Shinrikyu religious cult launched a terrorist

attack in the Tokyo subway. We accepted 740 victims and in two hours

figured out that it was sarin gas that had hit them. Sadly we lost one

person, but we saved 739 lives.

 

Science alone can't cure or help people. Science lumps us all

together, but illness is individual. Each person is unique, and

diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help

people, we need liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.

 

Learn from life's incidents. On March 31, 1970, when I was 59 years

old, I boarded the Yodogo, a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. It was a

beautiful sunny morning, and as Mount Fuji came into sight, the plane

was hijacked by the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. I

spent the next four days handcuffed to my seat in 40-degree heat. As a

doctor, I looked at it all as an experiment and was amazed at how the

body slowed down in a crisis.

 

Find a role model and aim to achieve even more than they could ever

do. My father went to the United States in 1900 to study at Duke

University in North Carolina. He was a pioneer and one of my heroes.

Later I found a few more life guides, and when I am stuck, I ask

myself how they would deal with the problem.

 

Retirement and contribution to society. It is wonderful to live long.

Until one is 60 years old, it is easy to work for one's family and to

achieve one's goals. But in our later years, we should strive to

contribute to society. Since the age of 65, I have worked as a

volunteer. I still put in 18 hours seven days a week and love every

minute of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

With warm regards,

 

Lalita