How do you rate your health?
You’ve probably seen those survey questions at health care provider offices that ask if you would rate your health as excellent, good, fair, or poor.
People who answer “excellent” are more likely to live longer.
Health ratings can be tied to attitude. Centenarians (people who live to be 100 or older) have been shown to have positive attitudes. It would probably be difficult to have excellent health and not have a positive attitude.
Having excellent health doesn’t mean doing everything right every day. It doesn’t mean having blood glucose levels in the target range every time. It doesn’t mean never getting a cold or tired or overeating or skipping stretching.
It means working hard and doing our best (most of the time). It means that when we mess up or when we get a number that makes no sense rather than beating ourselves up we move on. It means focusing on health, rather than disease.
They say people tend to answer “fair” or “poor” more often as they age. My plan is to continue choosing “excellent” as long as I’m alive. I guess that could be a long time!