@Mecha,
I can’t of course say for sure but I think the lower average lifespan of the pre-industrial age had to do with very bad hygiene/sanitation. ie: crowded living conditions with open sewage running in the streets; lack of any awareness about germs. I could be wrong about that but it makes sense to me. I mean, physiologically humans haven’t really changed in just several hundred years.
@Mattias,
While I can certainly see the appeal of country living, and am thankful for the family farmers that enjoy that lifestyle and supply some of our food, I am not sure I could handle a full-time life in the country. I have bookmarked the WWOOF site though and am considering trying it.
Recently I have been enjoying the benefits of meditation - and it only took me until age 51 to do it!
In years past I’ve tried the stereotypical mediation of sitting cross-legged, upturned hands on knees et cetera but couldn’t get into it. I still can’t.
I’m talking about learning to quiet one’s thoughts, as much as one can, throughout the day. Whether it be walking somewhere, standing in line, eating, working, even chatting - in a gentle but persistent manner learn to reject any attitudes/thoughts that do nothing to diminish stress.
Unless one looks into it, they might never realize that most, really nearly all, of the stress we feel is needless. External events don’t cause stress so much as one’s reaction to them does. I mean, it isn’t hard to notice that people can react very differently to the exact same situation. While some get stressed about it others take it in stride.
Do you know what I mean?
I’m not saying this is an easy change to make but it is worth it. Either one goes through life feeling somewhat like a cork tossed about on the ocean; a leaf tumbled about by the wind, or bit by bit, one assumes responsibility for one’s mood, and finds greater peace.
Think of it this way: what does everyone want? To be happy right? Or, as I prefer to think of it, to have that ‘peaceful, easy feeling,’
What stands in the way of that goal for a lot of people? A lifetime’s accumulation of knee jerk reactions to the behavior of others. Nearly everyone, by the time they’re adults, develops an almost totally constant, highly repetitious, internal dialogue - that nearly always works counter to the above stated desire.
You can learn to simply a lot of it. (I’m still working on dropping the dialogue that seems to have deep emotional underpinnings).
When you do, you’ll find that you can be more at ease practically anywhere - and still decide, with a much clearer mind, that you’d rather live in the country.
I hope this helps,
JB