Don't Die!

20 Ways To Live Longer
AOL Health

1. Get married.
2. Laugh out loud
3. Buy a pet
4. Quit smoking
5. Exercise more
6. Give your brain a workout
7. Limit sun exposure
8. Visit the doctor regularly
9. Eat fish
10. Eat more fruits and veggies
11. Share a hug/hold hands
12. Limit alcohol
13. Get your sleep
14. Stay positive
15. Consume a low-fat diet
16. Go to the dentist
17. Manage stress
18. Go back to school
19. Take vitamins
20. Drink tea

Here's some of the facts:

1. If you want to live a longer life, hit the books. A recent study from Harvard found a correlation between a longer lifespan and people with at least one year of college compared to people with a high school diploma or less. People with at least one year of college increased their lifespan by almost 1.6 years from 1990 to 2000.

2. Couples who had physical contact, such as a brief hug and ten minutes of hand holding, actually lowered their heart rates and blood pressure by 50 percent, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Plus, in a previous study it was determined that hugging and hand-holding reduces the negative effects of stress.

3. Getting less than six hours of sleep each night could have negative health effects. A study from the Sleep Health Centers in Boston reported that getting less than this amount of sleep each night increased the risk of dying. Experts recommend getting between six to nine hours of sleep each night for optimum health.

4. Exercise is all around good -- giving you the positive effects of increased endorphins and a reduced waistline. It makes your heart stronger by pumping more blood with less effort, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, prevents and controls diabetes, strengthens bones and muscles and controls weight. Convinced yet? A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that participants who had moderate to high exercise routines lived 1.3 to 3.7 years longer than their couch potato counterparts.

5. Having a dog or cat in the house works wonders by reducing stress, lowering cholesterol and decreasing blood pressure, while increasing physical activity.

6. Experts say that laughter is the best medicine. After all, it increases your immune system response, lowers blood sugar levels in diabetics, increases oxygen flow throughout your entire body and helps induce a state of relaxation promoting better sleep.

7. Exchanging vows comes with its own medical perks. A study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed the death rate for people who were unmarried was significantly higher compared to people who were married and living with their spouses.

So I got a hair cut today for the wedding. I told Alanna, it's really weird. My sister loves this guy, and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. So Saturday they're having this ceremony thing to make it official. She laughed at my humor.

Joshua backed out on our 3 man band. He didn't feel comfortable doing it this late, so instead of the song we are going to read Scripture and some other stuff. I have to pack tonight because we are leaving tomorrow. Thursday night is the rehearsal, then Saturday the wedding. It's difficult to believe really. It feels very surreal to have my sister getting married. Have I already said this? I don't know, but to me this day was always a long ways away. Of course I shouldn't be surprised I'll be entering my sophomore year of college this fall. Ach, getting old.

So I'll be giving the devotional/bible study tonight at church. Perhaps the first time I've been in charge of an entire service, but Mel mentioned that I'm morphing into the youth staff now so...I'm speaking on 'Spiritual Evaluation' It promises to be different since I normally just lead the worship, but tonight I'll be doing everything. New song! Starfield's Reign In Us. I hope it goes well. Love the melody and it has great words.

Well
Must
Run

-Sam