I've Decided to Live 120 Years
The Ancient Secret to Longevity, Vitality, and Life Transformation
- 2017 INDIES Winner
- Honorable Mention, Body, Mind & Spirit (Adult Nonfiction)
- 2017 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Self-Help (Adult Nonfiction)
The pages exude Ilchi Lee’s passion for a life well lived, and the message he conveys is unabashedly positive and uplifting.
Ilchi Lee’s I’ve Decided to Live 120 Years details a sensible, responsible, and thought-provoking longevity plan.
The visionary author of more than forty books, Ilchi Lee is convinced that humans can extend their lifespans. In this inspiring book, Lee proposes a relatively simple yet richly endowed framework to do so. He acknowledges that actually living to 120 years of age may be out of his control, but, he writes, “I do know that such a life is a possibility and that I can live my life with the expectation that I will live this long.”
Lee chose 120 years as a marker based on “current scientific understanding,” but the number is less important than the conceptual notion that an individual can live a long, productive, healthy life. He begins by offering an overview of how to pursue such a life, noting that one’s life can be separated into two halves. The first half, he says, is the “period of success,” while the second half (for many “a pathless wilderness”) should be viewed as a period of “completion.”
The remainder of the book concentrates on how to live a life of completion. As might be expected, Lee’s approach is holistic; it involves specific recommendations for the mind, body, and spirit. Woven into the text are frequent references to Korean beliefs about giving back to others and the well-being of the soul, which lends both an Eastern and a spiritual flavor to the book.
Lee lays out his longevity plan in considerable detail, including suggestions for exercise, healing, and meditation, but it is his gentle philosophical guidance that really distinguishes the book. He strongly believes that an individual controls his or her destiny:
Ask again and again what it is that you earnestly want in your heart and what kind of life will bring real joy to your soul. If you close your eyes and go within, following the feelings in your heart, at some moment the answer will come to you.
A part of Lee’s approach that will likely resonate with many readers concerns having a true appreciation of what is around us. He discusses the need for humans in old age to “grow as close to nature as possible,” because “humans and nature are one.” Interestingly, Lee describes in the book a place in New Zealand he founded, Earth Village, where he invites people to “live as Earth Citizens” for weeks or even months, experiencing some of the principles he discusses in this book.
I’ve Decided to Live 120 Years is elegantly and clearly written, and it is beautifully designed, with lush color photographs interleaved between chapters. The pages exude Ilchi Lee’s passion for a life well lived, and the message he conveys is unabashedly positive and uplifting. This is a hopeful book that offers an optimistic perspective on growing old.
Reviewed by
Barry Silverstein
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
