The issue with this, and where my contention lies, is that among the diets, products and habits to change, we lose all satisfaction of living and enjoying the time that we do have.
In the case of my grandfather, longevity wasn’t synonymous with quality of life. Though he wasn’t a centenarian, he came close, making it to 91 years old. Even for an Australian male born today, that’s still approximately ten years more than the average life expectancy.
But for most of the last decade of his life, to put it bluntly, he didn’t want to be here. Suffering from Alzheimer’s, the once active, independent and social man lost the quality of life he once had and became a recluse who, more than once, disclosed his frustration and unhappiness about the fact that he was “still kicking” and didn’t want to be.
He didn’t say this to be melodramatic or to be ungrateful. He said it because although his heart kept ticking, not much else did. And for him, this was a fate far worse than death.
Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, acclaimed biochemist and oncologist, shared a similar view in his 2014 article for The Atlantic, entitled ‘Why I hope to die at 75.’
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In the piece, Emanuel discussed his perspective (which was founded on research), that most people will live their most meaningful years before age 75.
“There is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist: living too long is also a loss. It renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic,” he wrote.
Like Emanuel and my grandpa, I’m not ungrateful or insane for not wanting to live forever. I love my life and cherish it because, at this stage of it, I am healthy, engaged, productive, hopeful and happy. But I know that I won’t always be fortunate enough to be in this position. And whenever that time comes, at whatever age that may be, as unpretty or uncomfortable as it may be to hear, if I had the choice, I’d pick quality of life over an anti-ageing peel or biohacking experience every time.
Shona Hendley is a freelance writer.
