A 99-year-old woman from Boca Raton, Florida, is only too happy to share her secret to longevity and it’s such a simple concept everyone can embrace it.
Mildred Kirschenbaum, who lives alone and still drives, is seen often in videos on her daughter Gayle Kirschenbaum’s Instagram and TikTok pages talking about her life and the lessons she has learned over the years.
“I want to share a thought about attitude,” Mildred said in a video shared a few weeks back. “I will be 100 years old in August. It’s only a couple of months away, and yet I have friends who are 20 years younger, 15 years younger — and their attitudes are going to cause them to not survive to my age.”
In sharing the footage that has been seen over 2 million times, Gayle wrote: “People keep asking us what is my mother’s secret to longevity. Here she addresses it.”
“And as you know I am a forgiveness coach, she took the words right out of my mouth. Our attitude, our mindset, our thoughts [affect] our actions and our actions create our life,” her daughter said. “Focus on what you have in life. Not what you don’t. And have gratitude for all you have. Complaining and blaming others for what is wrong in our life does not help us. It increases our stress, impacts our health, hinders our ability to problem solve and think creatively and find constructive solutions, and strains relationships.”
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Mildred goes on to explain that her friends are “not grateful for anything,” and like to complain about everything.
“If the food isn’t quite right, so have an extra dessert,” she suggested. “If you hear from your children once a week, that’s fine. They call you once a week, you call them once a week, and be grateful that they are enjoying life.”
“Change your attitude. Look at the positive side of life. I think that’s what got me this far,” Mildred added. “I try my best not to sweat the small stuff and to have a positive attitude.”
Gayle posts numerous videos of her mother dispensing sage advice about life, and she’s often seen dancing in the videos. A video shared last August showing Mildred celebrating her 99th birthday proved to be very popular.
“This is a big week for me. I’m going to be 99, and I cannot believe it — that I’m 99 and I still have my marbles,” she said in the video. “I’m the luckiest woman in the world that I have a family who I think adores me. I’m not sure — but even if they don’t, they call, they check on me, and there are so many people who don’t hear from their children or their family, so I’m very lucky.”
The latter remarks were offered in jest, of course.
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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