Live Longer?

There is this small debate going on in the sgrunners forum on how fit people live longer. I think that is a very foregone conclusion and common sense knowledge. You don't need to spend megabucks just for some scientist to tell us the obvious. A person who is fit is naturally able to reduce incidence of falling ill (better immunity, less visit to doctors, hospital where can catch all sort of germs etc).

On the other hand, I also believe life and death are predestined and if someone up there comes calling, its time to go - no matter how fit you are. That is why we have seemingly super fit runners dropping in the middle of a run. Some call it God's will, some karma, some fate; whatever it is there no escape from death.

Con incidentally, the Dept of Stats has just released their latest survey result and it shows that Singaporean men are likely to live longer up to 75 years whereas our women can live even longer up to 82 years. Is that great news or what? The gahmen has also announced details of the new CPF scheme to help those who are living longer to have money to spend. (Er - have anybody noticed somehow the data from the DOS and CPF don't match up - but that is another story for another day).

So what gives? I think at the end of the day, it is not about how long you live but more about the quality of life. I would rather drop dead in the middle of a run than spend months lying in a hospital suffering from some incurable disease.

So for those who asked this crazy uncle why he spends so much time running - the whole purpose of this huffing and puffing away, whether at the gym or running in the park is not for the objective of living longer but simply living better.