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She was so fascinated by the interviews she turned them into a series celebrating the centenarians. The interviews also changed her life. She wrote about it in her book If I Live To Be A 100.
I heard her talking about the book on NPR a few years ago, and one thing stood out to me: she discovered certain reoccurring attitudes in the centenarians she interviewed. Time and again, the same character qualities surfaced in the people she spoke with. She found that people who had made it to a hundred were overwhelmingly resilient, optimistic, sociable, and passionate about something larger than themselves.
Her discovery surprised me, but it shouldn’t have. The Bible is clear that long life is connected to right attitudes and right actions.
“Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.” (I Peter 3:10, 11)
In the following section I examine the four qualities she discovered and what the Bible has to say about each of them.
Resilient
The dictionary defines resilient as, “The ability to recover quickly, especially from a misfortune. Capable of withstanding stress without injury. Adaptable to change. Quick to recover.”
Simply stated, resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficult situations. Do difficult situations happen to Christians? Without a doubt.
“We are hard pressed on every side.” (II Corinthians 4:8)
“Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering.” (I Peter 4:12)
“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)
Why is it that some people are more resilient than others? Why do some people seem to bounce back quickly while others recover more slowly or never at all?
Since 9/11, business professionals have invested considerable resources to research resilience and how it affects people in the work force. Harvard Business Review senior editor Diane Coutu stated in her article How Resilience Works,
“Resilient people possess three characteristics: a staunch acceptance of reality, a deep belief that life is meaningful, and an uncanny ability to improvise.” (Diane Coutu, How Resilience Works, Harvard Business Review, 5/01/02)
I would add to her list the ability to see God’s purpose in every event in life. People who understand and accept God’s plan to transform us through trials, find it much easier to process pain. William Cowper, the English hymn writer, expressed it this way in his hymn God Moves in Mysterious Ways:
You fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
(To be continued)
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