The wisdom of long-livers is invaluable for anyone seeking a long and meaningful life. Each insight is rooted in personal experience, and every conclusion has stood the test of time. Excerpts from the book “Many Years. Blessed years. Commandments of the 104-year-old sage Andrey Vorona for a long and joyful life.” by Myroslav Dochynets. Translated into English by ©Excellence Reporter.

1. Learn to see all living things around you and rejoice in everything—grass, trees, birds, animals, the earth, the sky. Look at them with kind eyes and an attentive heart, and you will discover knowledge you cannot find in books. And in them you will see yourself—tamed and renewed.

2. Make it a habit, even if only for a few minutes at any time, to stand barefoot on the ground. Give your body to the earth until it calls you itself.

3. Seek opportunities to stay near water. It will relieve fatigue and clear your thoughts.

4. Drink clean water wherever possible, without waiting for thirst. This is the first medicine. Wherever fate took me, I first looked for a well or a spring. Do not drink sweet or salty (mineral) bottled water. The sweet corrodes the liver; the salty clogs the vessels.

5. Vegetables should be on your table daily. The most nourishing are those warmed and infused by the sun. First place goes to beetroot—there is no better food on earth. Then come kidney beans, pumpkin, berries, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, lettuce, apples, grapes, plums.

6. You can eat meat if you want, but rarely. Do not eat pork. Yet a thin slice of bacon does good. Just don’t smoke it—why eat tar…

7. Bad food: sausages, fried potatoes, cookies, sweets, canned foods, marinades. My food is grains, kidney beans, green vegetables. The predator that ate meat can barely crawl, is lazy. But a horse, eating oats, pulls a cart all day. A locust feeds on grass, and look at the strength it has to fly.

8. It’s better to eat just a handful, but often. To eat less, I drink plenty of water and compotes, and I eat coarse foods and raw vegetables. From Thursday evening to Friday evening, I do not eat anything—only water.

9. Fasting is the greatest grace. Nothing strengthens or rejuvenates me like fasting. My bones become light as a bird’s, and my heart merry as a young boy’s. With each extended fast, I become younger by several years.

10. The sun rises and sets for you. Work goes well after sunrise. Get used to it, and you will be strong in body and healthy in spirit. And the mind rests and clears best during the night’s sleep. Monks and warriors live so, and they have the power to serve.

11. It’s good to take a half-hour nap in the middle of the day, lying on your back so the blood refreshes your head and face. It’s bad to sleep after meals, because the blood thickens and fat settles in the vessels.

12. Sit less, but sleep enough.

13. Try to be more in the open air. Train yourself to live in a cool room. It’s enough for your hands and feet to be warm, but let your head stay cool. The body languishes and ages from heat.

14. Strengthen a weak and chilled body with herbs. A handful of herbs, berries, leaves, or twigs of currants, raspberries, strawberries—steep them in boiling water and drink all day. You will benefit greatly from this in winter.

15. Do not forget about walnuts. A walnut resembles our brain, and it holds power for the brain. A teaspoon of walnut oil a day is very good.

16. Be kind and considerate with people. You can learn something from each person, even from an “empty” one. Do not make anyone into either an enemy or a friend, and you’ll avoid trouble from them.

17. What is destined for you will be given. Just learn to wait humbly. What isn’t meant for you, do not wait for it. Let your soul be light.

18. Do not believe in superstitions, astrologers; do not resort to fortune-telling. Keep your soul and heart pure.

19. When the soul feels low, you need to walk—a lot. Preferably in a field, a forest, or by the water. The water will carry away your sadness. But remember: the best medicine for body and soul is fasting, prayer, and physical work.

20. Keep moving. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Troubles hold us on the ground. Do not run from them, but do not let them dominate you. Never fear starting to learn something new—it will refresh you.

21. I have never been to a resort, nor has Sunday ever been a day of lying around. My rest is a change of occupation. The nerves rest when the hands work. The body gains strength when the head works.

22. Do not ask for little. Ask for much. You will still receive less than that.

23. Do not be cunning to profit from everyone and everything, but try to be helpful to yourself. The vine that bears no fruit soon withers.

24. Do not be a jerk or a mocker, but remain cheerful.

25. Don’t overeat! A hungry beast is craftier and faster than a well-fed person. With just a handful of dates and a mug of wine, Roman legionaries ran twenty kilometers in full gear, crashed into enemy ranks, and fought half a day without rest… And from the gluttony and debauchery of the patricians, the Roman Empire fell.

26. After dinner, I take a half-hour stroll through the garden.

27. Do not drink during mealtime. Do not drink before or after meals either.

28. Place your child in Nature’s hands if you want to avoid hospitals and pharmacies. From a young age, teach them to walk barefoot on the ground. This is the strongest training. The child got sunburnt—good. Bitten by a wasp or an ant—good too. Stung by nettles, bathed in cool water, scratched by a thorn, ate a leaf in the garden—so much the better. They grow more resistant to disease, tougher in body, stronger in spirit.

29. When you cut vegetables with a knife, they partially lose their earthly strength and energy. It’s better to eat and cook them whole. An onion is twice as useful if you crush it with your hands or a wooden board.

30. You don’t need to drink factory-made teas. The best tea, in my experience, comes from young pear twigs — it’s wonderfully aromatic and healing. It helps flush out salt and excess water, and it relieves joint pain and inflammation. But beverages like coffee, sweetened drinks, beer, and even regular tea can gradually weaken the heart.

31. If you are tired, weak, and aching, just let the body rest. Simplify your food. You should eat once a day. Next day—another meal. Continue this for at least a week or two.

32. Want to stay young and live long? Once a week, have a “nut-and-apple day.” In the morning, prepare eight apples and eight nuts. About every two hours, eat one apple and one nut so your stomach stays occupied throughout the day.

33. When you feel the body tires quickly, when everything annoys you and work “slips out of your hands,” it means you need carrots two or three times a day. That’s how you restore your strength.

34. I cook hot meals only once or twice. Food should be fresh.

35. To avoid colds, do not take hot showers. Eat nuts and garlic every day, walk barefoot on a floor sprinkled with corn, and sleep a lot.

36. When berry season arrives, you can deny yourself any food except berries. Eat at least a cup a day. If the stars are the eyes of the sky, then berries are the eyes of the earth. There is no “main” or “secondary” among them; each one fills you with strength and health—from cherries to watermelon.

37. Cherish the inner sense of joy and enchantment with life.

38. Find time for silence and calm, for a spiritual conversation with yourself.

39. Let your heart tell you what is good and what is bad, not people’s chatter.

40. Do not worry about who thinks or says what about you. Be your own judge in purity and dignity.

41. Do not be angry with people. Do not judge them. Everyone you forgive adds love to yourself.

42. If your heart is full of love, there is no place for fear.

43. Do not compete with anything or anyone. To each his own. It’s better to yield.

44. One is not poor for having little, but for not having enough.

45. Never hit children or shout at them. Otherwise, they will grow up as slaves.

46. Do not argue. Everyone has their own truth and their own hurt.

47. Do not teach people how to live or what to do. I never teach—I only advise when asked.

48. Do not consider yourself the smartest, the most decent, or better than others.

49. Do not try to be an example for others. Look for an example near you.

50. Healing power lies in a sound sleep. But you must earn it every day with work and effort.

7 blessings

A doctor once asked me what gave me so many good and blessed years. I thought for a moment and wrote him these 7 blessings on a scrap of paper:

1. Moderate nutrition
2. Continuous, sensible physical work and the habit of walking a lot
3. Clean water and clean air
4. The sun
5. Self-control, self-restraint
6. Recreation
7. Faith

7 main things we need to learn

1. Find joy in this life. Joy in every minute you are given.
2. Bring joy to others. Be humane.
3. Forgive. Always. Everyone, including yourself.
4. Repent. Free yourself from sin and error.
5. Laugh—with your face and soul. (Do not take people or yourself too seriously.)
6. Breathe—freely, deeply, with enjoyment.
7. Sleep—plenty, and with enjoyment.

7 treasured dishes

(They are given to humankind from Above not only as the best food, but also as medicine.)

1. Beet
2. Cucumbers and onions
3. Sour milk
4. Fish
5. Porridge (millet, buckwheat, corn, kidney beans)
6. Apples
7. Berries and nuts

If you face a difficult choice or decision, ask yourself for an answer with a light heart in the evening, and in the morning when you rise, the answer will be there. And so it will be.

If you do not know what to do, do whatever you can.

If you are afraid to do it—then do not do it.

But if you do it, do not be afraid.

There is no “stupid,” useless, or idle work.

If you do not know how to act, act according to the will of your heart, but do not overstep moderation.

Not everything is subject to reason. But everything is subject to perseverance.

And nothing is impossible for you as long as you are alive and free.

(Original title: «Многие лета. Благие лета. Заповеди 104-летнего мудреца Андрея Ворона для долгой и радостной жизни», Автор: Мирослав Дочинец). Translated into English by ©Excellence Reporter).

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