Nonetheless, somewhere beyond that minute-by-minute capsule to which we all seem so addicted, there are people quietly living lives every day that offer a lot more news about achieving happiness and how to keep it.

Sandy Riddle is 59, and seeing her work out in the gym at 5:30 in the morning, you begin to understand why — for Sandy — age isn’t nearly as important as her sense of commitment. Arriving like clockwork Monday through Friday, her signature baseball cap snugly in place, Sandy wastes absolutely no time getting started. Station by station for the next hour and a half, she moves through weights, cables and machines in a personal routine developed to tune and re-tune her already well-sculpted body into the kind of muscled and cut version you see in the magazines.

In the height of the U.S. bodybuilding years, that’s exactly where she was, winning title after title. She was featured in publications doing U.S. and World promotions with Joe Weider, encouraging health and fitness, and enjoying an insider’s camaraderie with the likes of Joe Draper, Frank Zane, and Arnold Schwarzenegger to name a few.

It was a way of life Sandy’s father, Joe Nista (Mr. Universe, Mr. World, Mr. California) shared with her and her brother, working at their family gym in Long Beach and attending various events and competitions each weekend. And just for the record, it’s best to forget about the unflattering images some try to assign to female weightlifters. Sandy is flat-out beautiful.

With a degree from Cal State Fullerton and years at the helm of her own fashion business, today she’s a seasoned professional in Southern California real estate, counting some of the most notable people in the community among her closest friends and associates.

After all, who wouldn’t want to be around Sandy, if only just to take in some of the determination she seems to apply to whatever she does. Learning her age, most people generally stumble for words, politely expressing their surprise (shock!) and then following with something about how they really need to get back in shape.

Talking with Sandy though, you can see that her own quiet commitment suggests there’s no “getting back in shape” because she believes the real essence of being fit is something you never really leave or give up.

“Everyone’s heard these things a million times,” she says. “There’s no secret in a bottle somewhere. In Southern California we have this amazing weather and resources available to us, and the simple answer is basically in the choices we make every day to be the person we want to be. When people ask about how to get started, I tell them ‘Don’t make big lofty goals. Just do something. Get up, get started and if it’s working, then be consistent, not on again off again.’”

Finally, with an easy sigh of resolution, she sums it up. “Your fitness, your being in shape, your health, is something that’s so much within your control. If you start from there, then every single step you take will be easier.”

Now add about 40 years and meet Jack Thacker. He’s 95 and easily walks, talks and thinks like someone 20 or more years his junior. I arrived at his home one morning to learn something about his secrets of longevity. Inviting me in, he suggested we first have a look around the house and then sit down and talk.

As we walked from room to room, he took the time to describe a number of things, why each was so special and how it fit into his career or places they’d lived as a family. His wife and mother of his four children he said, had passed on some years ago, but rather than just sitting down and waiting to get old, he seemed committed to carrying on with living every day. He’s quite proud of cooking his own meals, maintains the house, drives a very cool, fast car, enjoys a long and usually strenuous solo bike ride nearly every day, and, despite the family members who worry too much about him, he’s more self sufficient than some people half his age.

So, what’s his secret of longevity, and happiness? Well, Jack would probably pass it off as being somewhat “gene lucky”, and tell you he’s thankfully been blessed with having to tolerate only a few age-related infirmities.

Still, he’s one who doesn’t suffer complainers. “You know, people make such a big deal about adapting to things,” he said. “What if someone said that if you wanted to continue eating for yourself and enjoying it, you’d have to do something three times every day for the rest of your life?” He was talking about brushing one’s teeth, but that’s the kind of practical guy he is. If you have a problem, figure out what you need to do, accept it, and move on.

As we settled in and talked through the morning, I was convinced that if he did have a real health secret, it had more to do with the stuff inside him, like his strong human spirit and confidence. His love of life and his family. His commitment to doing the right thing and his genuine belief that if you just got up and stepped out into the world each morning, there’s no telling how good that day could be.

I know… that sounds so corny. But reading accounts he shared with me about growing up, places he’d been, his career, his wife and children, all written so beautifully, I realized I was in the presence of a guy who proved that really loving life might be the best way to get more of it.

About his love for the bicycle, he wrote, “I get the same sensation today as I did when I was a boy, viewing the passing scenery and sights, inhaling the brisk air and the freedom of an unfettered mind just to wander at will.”

You see what I mean? In both Jack and Sandy, there is this essence of something so hard to describe. It isn’t loud, and it isn’t the next big thing, or some news breaking solution to the world’s toughest challenge.

In planning this story, I thought it would indeed be all about challenges. I’d call it something like “Beautiful Fighters” and talk about how hard it was for these two outstanding individuals to just get up when the bell sounded, get into the ring, fight the good fight and raise their arms in victory each day as “One of The World’s Most Amazing People!”

Being with Jack and Sandy though, gives a whole new meaning to ‘amazing’, a new respect and — I dare say — adoration for the kind of quiet assurance you can feel in the way they live each day. The idea of a “fight” it seems, might be more ours than theirs, and too often it’s within ourselves.

If you ask could ask Jack or Sandy for some simple advice on living, they’d probably suggest that a good look at how happy you are inside might be the best place to begin.



The first step toward a healthier, longer life is arming yourself with good information. Here are some online resources for healthy living.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s information on Healthy Living: cdc.gov/healthyliving

Mayo Clinic Healthy Lifestyle: mayoclinic.com/health/healthylivingindex/healthylivingindex

Family Doctor’s page on Healthy Living for the family: familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy.html

Medline Plus: nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthyliving.html

Healthy living is also about a positive state of mind. Visit these sites for a daily dose of happiness and inspiration.

Cute Overload: cuteoverload.com
Inspiration Peak: inspirationpeak.com
Good News Network: goodnewsnetwork.org
Happy News: happynews.com