10 Tips On Health And Happiness From A Doctor Who Lived 10.5 Decades To The Fullest

May 26, 2018 by apost team

A lifetime of trial and error brings a wisdom often not available to most younger generations. In youth, most of us look at life from a surface perspective. Deeper perspectives often don’t come until we practice life, or rather gather these meaningful experiences and learn first-hand how to live longer, happier, healthier lives. Who better to learn the secrets of a long, happy, healthy, and productive life from than a working 105-year-old doctor?

“Have big visions and put such visions into reality with courage...”

These are words Dr. Hinohara’s father spoke to him. He heeded the advice tenfold. 

He was born in 1911 in an era where the average life expectancy was just 40-years-old in his homeland of Japan. From an early age, he was determined to defy those odds and live life more fully than expected. He was also committed to helping others achieve health success, going on to be labeled by the medical community as a national treasure for Japan.

After becoming a 1937 graduate of Kyoto Imperial University’s College of Medicine, his remarkable career starts at Tokyo’s St. Luke’s International Hospital in 1941. He would go on to become president of it by 1992 and act as head of five different medical foundations.

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His life has also been quite harrowing. Hinohara, for example, was onboard Japan Airlines flight 351. Nine members of the Japanese Red Army, a communist militant group, were armed with swords and explosives when they hijacked the flight in 1970. He spent four days restrained to his seat in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. He later said that he was surprised by how a crisis spurs the human body to slow down and survive.

Perhaps what’s most fascinating about Dr. Hinohara is that he spent his first six decades working to earn a living for his family, but continued to work, mostly voluntarily, until the very day he passed away at 105-years-old in 2017. His office booked patients up to five years in advance due to the high demand for his council. His love of health and well-being remained steadfast until he passed away from pneumonia complications.

Dr. Hinohara’a greatest aspiration was completed in his dedication to helping the lives of others and sharing his methodology of living life to the fullest. Here are some of the words of wisdom from the late great doctor.

Dr. Hinohara repeatedly pointed out that all long lives, regardless of sex, race, or nationality, have a single common thread in that none of them are overweight. He ate meat sparingly and loaded up on veggies and rice.

Everyone needs goals and things to look forward to in life to keep them engaged with living. Hope and wishful thinking is what propels us to want tomorrow in our lives. Dr. Hinohara said to schedule things that excite you into your datebooks.

Dr. Hinohara said that you really never need to retire from work, but, if you do, make sure you’re at least 65-year’s-old. It’s key to pick a job that you love so that it doesn’t feel like work and you can continue to use your job as a source of happiness, fulfillment, and mental and physical acuity throughout your lifespan.

Knowledge is power, and your contributing to the empowerment and betterment of society as a whole by sharing what you’ve already learned freely with others, whether that be on a mass scale or a one-on-one basis. Who knows... the struggling child you tutor in math today may grow up to develop the very piece of technology that saves your life tomorrow.

Dr. Hinohara said in no uncertain terms that “science alone can’t heal everything.” Humans share certain basic biological similarities, but each are individuals with many variables, uniquenesses, and compilations at the end of the day. Dr. Hinohara believed wholeheartedly that patients must be treated as individuals and that liberal and visual arts, such as music and dog therapies, are just as vital to the healing process as medical arts.

It’s a simple concept - keep your body and mind strong. Don’t always take the easiest mental and physical journey. Challenge yourself. If Dr. Hinohara could take the stairs, and not just one but two at a time, at age 105, then anyone can.

Dr. Hinohara said his inspiration was Robert Browning’s poem “Abt Vogler” because it promoted big art over small scribbles. Whatever your inspiration may be, it can be harnessed as a powerful tool in happiness and to keep you facing the future verses constantly looking back or sitting idle.

If your child is screaming because they’ve bumped their knee or because they don’t want to clean up their room, what’s the best solution? Make a game of it to forget the pain of it. As adults, we often forget to apply the same concept of using fun to combat our own pains.

People often spend so much time and energy on a quest to amass material objects that they eventually look around in old age to be surrounded by a lot of useless, meaningless, and emotionally worthless possessions that leave them lonely and unfulfilled. Dr. Hinohara suggested to amass experiences, not things.

Role models give us an aspiration, inspiration, and directional objectives. Dr. Hinohara‘s was his father. Who is yours? Use this person as a compass, aiming to go even further than they did in their own life.

Do you plan to apply any of Dr. Hinohara’s words of wisdom to your health and well-being? Already applied them and are seeing changes? Tell us your thoughts and show this to your friends so you can still be hanging out when you're 105!