Celebrating our heritage should bring back recollections of better times. Currently, the nation’s challenges seem overwhelming, thus making a trip down memory lane more important than before to improve mental health.
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of declaring independence from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence was officially adopted on July 4th and signed by most of the participants the following month. No instant digital communication existed back then. That August, the Philadelphians who were present rang the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall to signal a great event.
John Adams called for people to celebrate: “Pomp and Parade, with Shews [British spelling of ‘shows’], Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
We are currently physically distancing. Thus, fireworks, an echo of Adam’s call for “bonfires and illuminations,” will mostly be missing this year. If you can safely relax by being with family and friends for the holiday, you will benefit from three Blue Zones Power 9® Principles—downshifting, loved ones first, and belonging to the positive pack for you.
Food is always big on holidays, with Fourth of July a perfect example. Americans typically eat 150 million hot dogs on Independence Day. Put end-to-end, the hotdogs would stretch from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles five times. Wieners are not exactly a Blue Zones Project favorite food choice, but modern cuisine has created flavorful alternatives that when grilled and seasoned are just as delicious. This Saturday as you celebrate, think plant-slant and eating until only 80% full.
Imbibing is also part of the holiday, with the most beer consumed in one day according to a 2016 National Beer Wholesalers Association estimation. In 1778, George Washington gave his soldiers a double ration of rum to celebrate. Outdoors and physically spaced, we can do wine at five or have friends at five, as appropriate—another Power 9 principle.
History does repeat itself as evidenced by the creation of the Liberty Bell, marking the 50-year anniversary of William Penn’s earlier
Charter of Privileges. Declaring religious freedom for all is the first of eight sections of the Charter. The Power 9 Principle of participation in a
faith-based organization can add anywhere from four to fourteen years of life expectancy.
Two of the nine Blue Zones Power 9 Principles have not yet been mentioned. Move naturally would be accomplished if having a safe parade were possible. Instead, you can still go for a walk or ride your bike.
In many ways, the having purpose principle is paramount and saved for last. Our forefathers had purpose when they wrote these words, more important than ever before, at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.