Someone is afraid of old age, someone accepts it as inevitable, but for someone it’s a great time when you can fulfill your dreams and do what you want.
Vladimir Yakovlev, a Russian journalist and businessman, admitted that he regarded the age of 50 years as a milestone, after which there could be nothing interesting in life.
When he turned 50, he decided to find out whether a person can feel happy, be happy and feel the fulness of life brighter than even in his youth.
Biography of Vladimir Yakovlev
Vladimir Yakovlev was born in Moscow on March 08, 1959. Behind him was studying at Moscow State University at the Faculty of Journalism and working in newspapers such as Sobesednik, Sovetskaya Rossiya, and in the journal Rabotnitsa.
In 1987, Yakovlev became his own correspondent for the magazine "Spark". From 1988 to 1990, he organized the Fact Information Information Cooperative (1988) and the Post-Factum Agency (1989-1990). Vladimir Yegorovich Yakovlev - editor of Kommersant (1989-1992), founder of the publishing house Kommersant (1994), one of the founders of NSN, in 1999, having sold his shares, he left for the USA.
Since 2007, he has been a member of the board of directors of companies such as Stream Content and Sistema massmedia. In 2008, Vladimir Yakovlev became one of the founders of the Live media group and the editor-in-chief of Snob magazine.
Since 2012, Vladimir has been organizing a project on the possibilities of people in old age called “The Age of Happiness”. It is carried out both in Russian and English and covers the lives of people whose age limit has exceeded half a century or even a century.
Happy age
Vladimir Yakovlev, whose age has crossed the fifty-year line, became interested in what exactly people do after retirement and why they categorically do not want to grow old and live out their lives near the TV.
In the post-Soviet space, people of retirement age are called old people and are often considered an obsolete generation who have only one way left - to the cemetery. Pensioners themselves call themselves old people, respectively, they behave in an old-fashioned way - groan, get sick, complain and die early.
The book "Age of Happiness" (Vladimir Yakovlev) destroys people's ideas about old age. It turns out that for many people in different countries this is exactly the period of life when you can devote your whole time to yourself, because the children have grown up, the work has remained behind, and the unfulfilled dreams of youth are still waiting for their realization.
The book not only reveals the stories of older people, but also conveys their appearance through copyright photographs. Vladimir Yegorovich Yakovlev is a wonderful master of words, but also a very talented photographer who conveys both events or images, and the emotions that accompany them.
Heroes of the book "Age of Happiness"
The heroes of Vladimir Yakovlev are completely different people, not only by age, but also in social, financial and professional status.
Among them there are very successful and wealthy people, and there are those who "pull" from pension to pension, or live on benefits.
The goal that determined the project of Vladimir Yakovlev and all his research is the search for the "elixir" of youth and happiness for people who are far beyond 50, 60 and even 100 years old. But reality shows that this topic turned out to be important for people of different ages, since there are too many young “old people” who are not interested in anything in life except for home, work and TV.
Here are some conclusions from which you can understand that it is not an elixir of happiness at any age:
- First, the amount of money is completely out of proportion to the amount of happiness. It often happens quite the opposite - there is money, there is no happiness.
- Secondly, it is not the opinion of others that creates the person. A person’s dependence on what others will say or think about him gives him the right to life imprisonment of other people's ideas about him.
- Thirdly, the waste of time on actions or work that do not bring pleasure and drive shortens life.
As the author himself notes, it is not external attributes that make older people happy, but that they only do what gives them joy.
Henri Chirkov
An example of Andrei Chirkov, the hero of the book by Vladimir Yakovlev, “The Age of Happiness,” is one of the most understandable and indicative for residents of the post-Soviet space. He was 52 years old when drinking with American colleagues and not quite understanding what he was doing, he promised one of them to run a Moscow marathon together.
Since the promise, although drunk, was given, Andrei Chirkov decided to fulfill it without fail. For a hundred days he went for a morning run, thinking that this would help him overcome the distance of 42 km. Although an American friend could not come to the marathon, the hero of the book nevertheless went to a distance, at the end of which ambulance doctors restored him.
A timely drip set saved Andrei from a heart attack, but he did not stop running. Today he is 72 years old, and behind him is not only participating in many marathon races, but also 2 published books about running, many stories and participation in television shows.
Thanks to the run, Andrey Chirkov made a lot of new friends of his age, who, like him, radically changed their lives after 60 years or even later.
Fowja singh
An elderly Hindu who moved from a distant Indian village to London to his son, also became the hero of the book "Age of Happiness." Vladimir Yakovlev drew attention to the age when an elderly Indian was carried away by running and became a marathoner - 82 years old.
A man who was accustomed to working on earth all his life made the only right decision, which clearly extended his life - if you do not move, you can get sick and become depressed. Therefore, he began to run.
At 89, he took part in the London marathon and overcame it in almost 7 hours. This was a record for him, which he easily broke after 4 years, when he ran the marathon distance in less than 6 hours. This time he became the champion for the whole world in the category of those who are over 90 years old.
Today he is 104 years old, and behind his back is not only 8 marathons on which he earned money for charitable organizations, but also participation in the Adidas commercial. As the hero himself says, apparently God wanted him to become the oldest marathoner on the planet and admits that only when he started running did real life begin for him.
Lynn Ruth Miller
Not so often there are women aged 77 who could joke a huge hall with their jokes, participate in television shows, compete in talent shows on a par with the young, and even go to the finals.
She became the heroine of the book “Age of Happiness” by Vladimir Yakovlev. The fact that she has a comic talent, Lynn understood at 70, and engage in striptease at 77 years old. And he does all this with brilliance, with a “twinkle” in his eyes, recklessly and clearly enjoying the process itself.
As the heroine herself says, aging pleases her. It was old age that freed her from stereotypes about old age, filled her with energy and allowed her to do only what she wanted.
Pat and Alicia
Vladimir Yakovlev, whose books “The Age of Happiness”, “Rules of Happiness”, “Wanted and Could" are devoted to amazing people, could not help but pay attention to an elderly couple who are traveling and parachuting for most of their time.
Pat Moorehead is 81 years old, and his wife Alicia 66, they have been dedicated together for 27 years to their favorite business - travel and height.
The difference between a traveler and a tourist is that the first never walks on the indicated route. Pat and Alicia travel more than 200 days a year, and when they return to their homeland, they also do not sit at home. Pat teaches skydiving lessons and runs the club, and for those over 60, he is the main assistant in the development of this sport.
Being not rich people, they are compelled to fly by the cheapest airlines, to live in inexpensive hotels, but nevertheless they have already visited 180 countries. At the same time, they met a huge number of people and fell into a variety of "troubles" - from street brawls to uprisings.
As the heroes of the book themselves say, maybe later, when they get old, they will sit at home and write their memoirs.
Tao Poschon Lynch
Another bright heroine of Vladimir Yakovlev is Tao, who, thanks to heavy snowfall, began to dance at 84.
A yoga coach, she did not think she would dance every day, but when the students did not come to her or the ballroom dance teachers, they decided to dance the tango, which was the beginning of her hobby.
Today Tao is 95 years old, she still gives yoga classes 3 hours a day, and 2 hours a day she dances with her young dance partners.
When a couple of years ago she had a fracture of her hips and wrists, the doctor said that she would never be able to do a handstand again, since she had the pins inserted. This did not stop Tao, and after a few months she again performed all the asanas, as before.
Tao believes that she feels young thanks to the energy she receives while doing what she loves.
Happiness formula
As Vladimir Yakovlev found out, the formula of happiness really exists, and age is not an obstacle for her. The composition of the elixir includes such ingredients:
- Daily exercise keeps your muscles toned and provides energy for the whole day.
- Learning new things, thinking, writing - all this helps the brain to remain young.
- Charge with positive, smile not only to others, but also to yourself.
- Getting pleasure from the process without being tied to a specific result.
- Accepting oneself and the world as it is.
- Be fun and active.
As the author notes, all his characters eat a variety of foods, do not follow diets, but there is one principle that unites them - moderation in food. They either do not eat meat at all, or in extremely small quantities.
But the main product of this elixir is the fullness of life, the pleasure of what you do and the joy of every day.
Other works of the author
Among other books that brought Vladimir the same fame as The Age of Happiness are Wanted and Could, The Rules of Happiness, You Will Be Healthier, and Another Matter.
All his books are devoted to the issues of happiness, health and the realization of human life. The heroes of his works are real living people who change not just their lives, but the worldview of many people. Their examples inspire and help take the first step towards happiness.