This is a sponsored feature. All opinions are 100% from Her Campus.
Yesterday, the Walter Breuning, the oldest man in the world at 114 years old, passed away. Its incredible to read about his life and see how much has happened in just his lifetime—even though it was longer than the average person’s. He was born at the beginning of the 1900s where his family had no electricity or running water, and had to travel by foot or horse, or maybe train, to get anywhere. He saw both World Wars, the Great Depression, Elvis Presley, and the Internet happen out of nowhere. Twenty presidents held office during his lifetime, and even throughout all that time, he was only married once.
It’s crazy to think of someone living that long. The world has changed so much in just the past ten years, that I can’t even begin to imagine what everything must have been like one hundred years ago. You’d think that there’s some sort of secret for someone to have lived that long—some magic elixer for someone not to have deteriorated after such a long time—but Walter was just your average, American man, although he did have some tips on living a long and prosperous life.
Two bits of his advice that stood out to me the most were to “embrace change” and to help others as much as you can because “the more you do for others, the better shape you’re in.”
Having lived as long as Walter did, there’s no way anyone could have avoided accepting change—in society, friends, and the world itself. Change is inevitable, but—as per Walter’s advice—we need to embrace it. This not only means accepting the fact that things will change, but also that we need to do what we can in order for the change to lead to a more positive future.
We know that the world is becoming more and more industrialized every day, but what can we do to embrace the chance and still make the world livable for our future generations (or even ourselves if we live to be 114 years old)? We need to make sure that earth’s natural resources are conserved so that our children may have the chance to live for over a century. We need to encourage others to embrace change—by saving the environment and taking three-minute showers—and show them that doing good for the environment will bring good back to them.
Little by little, if people accept change and act towards a better tomorrow, everyone else will catch on and follow suit. If you start taking three-minute showers, and have that extra ten minutes every morning to sleep in, maybe your friends will start taking three-minute showers as well. Be a leader for the world. Be a leader for a better tomorrow. Be a leader so that future generations can enjoy life as you enjoyed it—or maybe so that you can enjoy life, when you live to be 114.
xoxo
Think you can change the world if you live to be 114 years old? What’s your advice on what we can do today to make for a better tomorrow? Leave a comment below, email me (at melanieshimano@jhu.edu), or give me a shout-out on twitter telling me how you are going to live to be 114.
And don’t forget to send in your submissions to the Earth Lovers Three-Minute Shower Challenge Youtube Contest! Need some inspiration? Check out my video here.