Archie Bunker, the racist bigot from the sitcom “All in the Family,” was created by Norman Lear, who celebrated his 101st birthday in July.
Lear shared his tips for living to a ripe old age on Thursday during an early celebration for him at the Life Itself conference, a health and wellness conference held in association with CNN. He listed his secrets as eating lox and bagels, having a loving family, laughing, and having a life of exciting work.
Lear said, “I like having something on my mind when I wake up in the morning that I can work on… to a conclusion.
The past century has seen Lear accomplish everything. He served as executive producer on the cult classics “The Princess Bride” and “Fried Green Tomatoes,” and his screenplay for “Divorce American Style” was nominated for an Academy Award. In the 1970s and 1980s, his sitcom spinoffs of “All in the Family” dominated television, delving into issues like racism, feminism, and social inequality that no one else had dared to tackle. Even People for the American Way, a liberal political organization, was founded as a result of his political activism.
Even at the age of 90, when most people his age would consider themselves fortunate to be rocking on their front porch, Lear has never stopped working. “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” which won Primetime Emmys in 2019 and 2020, featured a 95-year-old Lear as co-producer and host for three of the episodes. Classic episodes of “The Jeffersons,” “All in the Family,” and “Good Times” were recreated in the series using contemporary actors like Jamie Fox, Woody Harrelson, and Viola Davis.
Lear and his business partner Brent Miller recently relaunched some of his popular sitcoms from the 1970s, such as “One Day at a Time.”. Various films and other projects are also being worked on by them.
Lear claims that his approach to stress is one of the factors in the longevity of his career. During his 1970s comedic era, Lear had eight popular television shows: “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Sanford and Son,” “Good Times,” “The Jeffersons,” “One Day at a Time,” “Archie Bunker’s Place,” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”.
Lear nevertheless referred to that period of his life as one of “joyful stress” in his 2014 book “Even This I Get to Experience.”. “.
Lear said to Variety last year: “Even doing your best work and enjoying the results of that, there is a reasonable amount to a great deal of stress. And if one can learn to accept that with joy, one can feel stressed and realize that they are also enjoying themselves. So throughout my career, I’ve encountered a lot of that.
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The science of stress.
Research suggests that stress can be advantageous, particularly if you have Lear’s mindset. Resilience, like rock, paper, scissors… covers stress, and resilience can be attained by accepting stress as a normal, beneficial, and even necessary part of life.
But does this mean that everybody should emulate Lear and continue working past the typical retirement age?
“Research demonstrates that people who work longer are healthier, and that longer work hours are associated with better health. So it’s quite tempting to take a look at that association and say, “Ah, this indicates working longer will make you live longer. However, it is much more complex, according to Beth Truesdale, a sociologist and research scholar at the W.
E.
the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
“Job stress can be challenging but rewarding if you’re in a job where you have control over your working environment and can make decisions that allow you to take care of your family,” she added. But many people find that their jobs are very stressful because they have so little control over them, especially those without a college degree. “.
The Reality of Retirement.
Lear is actually one of a “tiny, tiny minority” of fortunate people who have found jobs that will support them financially and physically as they age, according to Truesdale, coeditor of the soon-to-be-published book “Overtime: America’s Aging Workforce and the Future of “Working Longer.”. ‘ “.
Truesdale said, “We hear these wonderful stories about people who could retire if they wanted to, but instead choose to keep working because that’s what they want to do. “However, we don’t hear the stories that provide a counterbalance, such as those of people who were forced to retire at the age of 57 because their life’s work was so physically taxing that their backs and knees failed. “.
Before they can draw Social Security or become eligible for Medicare, she continues, “it will be years.”. “And for many members of the middle and lower classes, that means living in poverty. “.
According to Truesdale, retirement earlier than desired (or financially feasible) is not always the result of poor health. Middle-aged people, especially women, who are members of the “sandwich generation,” may be forced out of the workforce due to caring for an elderly family member. Age discrimination, she added, is another awful reality for many older workers.
The majority of people who lose their jobs in their 50s and early 60s never find another one that pays as well as the one they lost, according to statistics, she continued.
Lear’s writing is still successful despite his advanced age, and he has a razor-sharp sense of humor.
However, a lot of people are less fortunate, as evidenced by the rise in the number of elderly people receiving dementia and Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses. In light of this, Harvard Medical School neurologist Rudy Tanzi, director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, claims that early, brain-healthy decisions like getting enough sleep, lowering stress, exercising, and eating healthfully are crucial when deciding between working and retiring.
Tanzi said, “You want to get good sleep and deal with stress, with mindful meditation and managing your expectations about social media and the like. Since loneliness, not being alone, is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, you should strive to maintain a positive social life. “.
Tanzi continued, “Learning new things to make new brain synapses is like money in the bank.
It induces neurogenesis, removes amyloid, and stops brain inflammation.
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According to Tanzi, the number of new brain synapses you create each day will directly affect how much of a cognitive impairment you experience as you age. “Therefore, when you want to retire, don’t just consider your financial reserve and how long that will last. Consider how much time you have left in your synaptic reserves.
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In addition to working, Truesdale noted that there are other activities you can engage in to maintain your physical and mental well-being, such as spending time with loved ones, engaging in hobbies, and volunteering in worthwhile causes, all of which have been linked to healthy aging in studies.
People engage in a variety of rewarding activities that they might not have had time for while working for a living, she said, which keeps them active and gives them a strong sense of purpose and fulfillment. “Stay active as you get older, yes. However, it is illogical to believe that working is the only way to accomplish that. “.
