What keeps old men young?

I guess there are endless answers to that, and they are all opinions. I am referring to 'answers' that fall outside the scope of lifestyle, diet and exercise, and of course supplementation.
Why do I raise it?

The other night I attended a function put on by the Thai/New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok. If their monthly functions happen to coincide when I am in town I usually attend.
Anyway, there was a new member there this time and I got to talk to him. I could see that he was older than me and as often happens, the topic got around to age and health. He was from Holland and had lived in Thailand for 22 years. I asked him how old he was and he asked me to guess. I figured he would be in his late 60’s, maybe early 70’s.

He was actually 81.

He guessed that my age was in the early 50’s so I was quite happy that he was 10 years out.
He still works full time as a consultant. He then volunteered that his secret for keeping young was that he had a 5 year old child. I suggested that this was not my idea of keeping young. I have three grandchildren which are delightful, but it is good to be able to give them back after having them for a while. But, it seems to be working for him.

He was fortunate that his child is good and healthy…but, it is a risk for men fathering children at that age as the chances of a child been born with a defect goes up significantly. I think that if I had the inclination to have another child at that age I would do what a friend of mine did in Bangkok (even though he is still within the safe age for fathering a child). He adopted a little girl of 4 years of age who was a friend of his daughter of 10 years who as one of her hobbies helped teach little kids English in the toughest slums in Bangkok.

She has turned out to be a smart young girl and already fluent in English.

This little girl's parents were both dead and her Aunty who was looking after her had a lung disease and only a few months to live. The little girl would then have had no one and she would have been alone in a house the size of an average western living/dining room with 10 adults.

Now she has a real chance in life and no doubt as she grows up she will do things to help others who have been less fortunate…and hence the ripple effect of a good deed.

If you ever have an inclination to want to help little kids like this then make contact with Father Joe who has done some remarkable work in the slums of Bangkok. You can read many reports about his work by going on to Google and entering Father Joe Bangkok.