Birthday Girl Centenarian Continues to Give Back

Doing what you love can keep you young. Giving back gives your long life meaning. Liang Mee Lun is one birthday girl centenarian who continues to give back. She says she feels good that the paper flowers she makes by hand can brighten up people’s homes and offices, lift someone’s spirit, and raise funds to help those in need.

Liang Mee Lun believes this hobby has kept her brain cells active and alert and her fingers, healthy. She isn’t wrong. Use it or lose it applies to both your brain and your body. Another side effect of not keeping busy and engaged doing something you love is the lack of socialization that often accompanies inactivity. When we aren’t out and engaged with people, we have nothing to talk about and nothing to share. When we have nothing to share and nothing to talk about, we stop seeking out the company of others. It can become a very lonely and isolating experience to grow old, alone, without something that you love doing.

Another concern of spending too much time idle and alone, a study of approximately 500,000 people found that for each additional year of work past age 65, the risk of getting dementia was reduced by 3.2%. So, take a lesson from this birthday girl centenarian and continue to give back. Find or keep doing something you love. Age is just a number. And the only importance that number has is the importance you give it.

Penangite Liang Mee Lun turns 100 tomorrow and to celebrate, she and her family members will donate RM100,000 to 10 charitable organizations by making paper roses, something that she has done for 29 years, after her husband passed away. Read more…