Baby Boomers Formula: Laugh Much and Live Long — Dave’s Diary

The baby boomers hope to live forever. That's probably not gonna happen but we do spend some of our remaining years thinking about how to add to them.

Most of us get more active in the summer (sorry hard-core skiers) and many of us think it’s this extra level of activity that could prolong our lives.

long life that doesn’t include a long sweat!

Just ask the positive people from Yeshiva University in New York City where a little research lead them to conclude that “positive” personality traits may also be part of the longevity genes mix.

There’s more in common here than the number of candles on the cake for folks who manage to push past 100.  The stereotype may be the “grumpy old guy” but in fact, centenarians are happy, optimistic folks, who tend to be outgoing, love to laugh and stay engaged in activities they enjoy.

Yeshiva University researchers discovered that Centenarians had lower scores for displaying a neurotic personality and higher scores for being conscientious compared with a representative sample of the U.S. population.  Ok, that translates into this: 100+ are disciplined, organized, achievement-oriented and dependable.  Dave and those like Dave are more neurotic, not as emotionally stable, tend to have less impulse control and are aggressive and anxious.

Not everybody wants to live to be 100 but for those who do, the path seems clear: laugh, love, keep goals and stay organized and you to just might get an eyebrow singe from a hundred candles!