One Veteran Who Lived Over a Century

And his powerful insights on how to live a long and happy life

On the 28th of December 2018, the world has lost a man who wasn’t only a war hero, but a person who went through it all. Yet, he was full of life, happy, and shared his happiness with everyone he met. He went through segregation, WWI, the great depression, the atom bomb, the cold war, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, witnessed the first man on the moon, the civil rights movement, and desegregation — All the way to shake the hands of the first black president of the United States.

Mr. Overton was born on the 11th of May, 1906. He was an American veteran who joined the army during WII as a fifth-grade technician. According to an article published by JESSE GREENSPAN

“He was descended from slaves who toiled on the Nashville, Tennessee, plantation of Judge John Overton, as his newly freed ancestors moved en masse from Tennessee to Texas following the Civil War. Around four decades later, he was born outside Austin.”

Mr. Richard did things considered dangerous for his age. He smokes, drinks up to four cups of coffee a day with the same amount of whiskey, eats ice-cream, and drives his car by himself. But he also lived his life by principles a lot of us lack and take for granted.

Here are quotes of his vision of life from his documentary:

You will die when it’s your time

“If it’s your time to go that bullet going to get you, and if it ain’t your time to go that bullet going over your head and it ain’t going to get you.”

Death can be a frightening topic for most of us. It always comes with negative feelings and darkness. Although death is scary, thinking about it can be eye-opening to a lot of possibilities in life. Thinking about death will make us live our lives to the fullest. Life will be much different if we wake up in the morning and treat the day like it’s the last day in our lives.

Death is inevitable. And we’re all going to die someday. And for the sake of our mental health, we need to embrace this reality rather than fear it, because this kind of fear leads to death anxiety, which is the core of multiple mental health disorders like panic disorder, anxiety, and depressive disorders.

Despite these facts, researches Amelia Goranson, Ryan S. Ritter, and Adam Waytz have conducted two studies that revealed death has an unexpectedly positive impact.

The first study shows near-death patients with incurable diseases, like stage IV cancer, shared in their blogs more positive and less negative posts — and the second study shows the last words of death-row inmates were more positive. And these last words were less negative than poetry written by death-row inmates.

Buy the things you only need

“I would buy one thing I would use this one thing. I wouldn’t buy one thing and go buy another and go buy another.”

The worst thing we can do as humans is getting attached to material goods; they’re nothing but distractions from enjoying life.

Society’s fake standards normalized not only materialism, but it worked hard to seed an idea of connecting materials to happiness. Making people look more cheerful in commercials buying televisions, cars, phones, etc.

The value materials add to somebody’s life is nothing compared to other factors, like having a vacation or new experiences.

Another study reveals buying more materials lead to lower savoring ability (the ability to enhance and prolong positive emotional experience), and undercut people’s ability to reap enjoyment from life’s minor pleasures, and adds more negative impact on their lives.

Enjoy the little things life offers

“I help those cats, and they keep me happy. I tell the truth, they keep me happy. I want to see my cats every morning.”

Life is full of challenges, bumps, and negativity wherever you look. Nobody in this life is free of problems or worries. And That’s OK. While It’s great to have bigger goals in life, focusing too much on life problems and future goals can be a health and time-consuming, and it could blind you from seeing the joy in the little things around you.

Happiness can be as simple as growing flowers in your backyard, playing with your pets, sharing a meal with someone you admire, and giving back to charities. Discovering the beauty in everything you see is the key to finding happiness.

Live a spiritual life

“Good to have a spiritual life, but you got to live it.”

Faith is the base of our lives, and it doesn’t matter whether or not you believe in God, you still believe in something. The only way that makes you sleep at night is the belief you will wake up the next day. The reason you plan for your future is the belief of having a better future. And without a belief, there’s no hope, and without hope, there’s no life.

Being spiritual and belief in a higher power leads not only to improved stress management and better social support. But also to humility, compassion, flourish, and self-actualize.

Surround yourself with people that make you feel better

“It makes you feel better to have a person around you like Ms. Love.”

As human nature, we’re tribalism. We live in groups, and that’s what made us survive and make it this far. And therefore it’s difficult for us to live alone.

We need each other. We need to have this sense of belonging. We want to meet people like us, who share the same principles, visions, and thoughts. It’s good to be unique, but it’s even better to live where your uniqueness is normal. To live where you feel loved, accepted, and respected. To surround yourself with those who value your worth and make you feel better.

Never give up

“If you gave up, you’re through. You’re just doubting yourself”

Life is a sailing boat. Along the way, we face waves, winds, and storms. Sometimes we get lost, and sometimes we reach an uncommon destination. The path is painful and full of obstacles, and sometimes giving up seems like a simple way to end your pain. But did you get this far to give up now? If the path was easy, don’t you think everyone would have done it already and made their dreams come true? It’s not and never will be this easy.

Sorry, but this is the reality. And this is the beauty of it. You will only enjoy the things you worked hard for, and if gold was easily accessible, it won’t worth much.

The joy lies in the process, not in the results. Just keep going and never give up.

Mr. Overton has fought a lot of battles in his life, and Pneumonia was another enemy to fight. But even heroes get tired. He finally put his gun down and left this life peacefully to a better place.