Magic of Believing

Somewhere In Time

I remember watching a movie in the early 80’s called “Somewhere in Time” with Christopher Reeve.  Young Richard Collier (Reeve) becomes obsessed with a photo of a beautiful woman he found.  He learns she was a famous actress during the turn of the century, and with a chance meeting of an elderly woman and a pocket watch, he sets off to go back in time to meet her.  How does he accomplish this?   He decorated his room to look exactly as it would in 1912 - down to the smallest detail, including his own clothing.  He basically hypnotized himself into believing it was really 1912.  You’ll have to rent the movie to see how it all turns out.

That was a movie Chuck.  Are you suggesting you can go back in time?

No, not at all.  But suppose for a moment that the concept of time, specifically aging, is nothing more than just a belief?   Let’s look at an experiment conducted by a Harvard Psychologist in the late ’70s.  I think it will surprise you.  In fact, the concepts of this experiment will soon be made into a major motion picture starring Jennifer Aniston of Friends.  The movie is based on the book, “Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibilities.

The year was 1979.  Harvard psychologist, Ellen Langer, retrofitted an old, isolated, New England Hotel to look exactly like it did in 1959.  The furniture, the magazines, the newspapers, even the music - was all from the 50’s.  Every detail was seen to.

And the experiment?   Langer took a group of men, all in their late 70’s and 80’s and has them spend a week in the hotel.  She instructed them not to reminisce about the past, but to actually believe as if they had traveled back in time, believe that they were living in 1959.  The idea was to see if changing the men’s mindset about their own age might lead to actual changes in their health and fitness.

The results?  Simply stunning. 

After just one week, the men in the experimental group (compared with controls of the same age) had

• more joint flexibility
• increased dexterity
• less arthritis in their hands
• Increased mental acuity
• improved gait and posture

Outsiders who were shown the men’s photographs even judged them to be significantly younger than the controls. In other words, the aging process had in some measure been reversed.

Now you might say that these particular results are all subjective.  There’s no real measurement.  There was, however, one area of improvement where the evidence was incontrovertible: finger length.

As we get older, our bodies succumb to gravity and generally shrink, and our fingers, which are no exception to this rule, get shorter. But the fingers of the men in this study were actually longer at the end of the experiment.

Possibilities

Now I know that many of you will say that the “belief” that the body ages is not just a belief, it is also a fact. Well is it a fact simply because the belief in the inevitability of aging is so deeply ingrained that few ever really wish to look at it more closely?

Think about it.  We get special ’senior’ discounts when we hit 55.  We get to ‘retire’ at age 65.  And then we have those lovely ‘assisted living centers’ to look forward to later on.  Everywhere we look we see reminders that we are ‘getting old’.

It’s hard to NOT get old when we are continuously reminded that we ARE getting old.  We accept that as fact.  We believe it to be true - and it happens.

However…..

• How many ‘old people’ do you know that act and look significantly younger?  I know quite a few.  And they all say the same thing.  You’re only as old as you feel.
• Conversely, how many ‘young’ people do you know that constantly complain about getting old?  I work with many guys a lot younger than me, who actually have more grey hair that I do!  They think they’re old, so they act like they’re old, and not surprisingly - their body - in turn - give them symptoms so they can feel like they’re old.
• Most people in their 70’s think, they have lived their life and nothing more can be done now.  How many people do you know who suddenly pass away once they retire?  The message after retirement is “You’re done”.  “There’s nothing left for you to do now”  “You’re finished”.  Hulda Crooks had a different belief. When she was 70, she chose to pursue mountaineering. And, at the age of 95, she became the oldest lady in the world to ascend Mount Fuji.

Age is not a fact.  It is a belief.  A frame of mind.   George Burns lived to be 100, smoking cheap cigars and drinking martinis every day.  Here is what George had to say about aging:

Age to me means nothing. I can’t get old - I’m working. I was old when I was twenty-one and out of work. As long as you’re working, you stay young. When I’m in front of an audience, all that love and vitality sweeps over me and I forget my age.  — George Burns