Okinawa is the cutest, prettiest island one could imagine. It won't strike you like that because of its architecture, cleanliness or general development. But it will definitely impress you through the air that it surrounds itself with. It's an air of kindness, of going back to the roots of what a beautiful life is ultimately all about: cultivating virtue in yourself and in others as well.
Okinawans are extremely friendly and genuinely caring. They will say hi to anyone that happens to look their way. They will engage in conversations about trees and their roots with total strangers that might not even understand their language. They will spend quality time with their family and friends, but they will also spend quality time with themselves, leaning against the water front with a book in one hand and a can of soda in the other.
The reason for which I was really excited to be going to Okinawa is that Okinawa is a blue zone, an area that exceeds the upper limits of human longevity. In all honesty, I expected to see people eating raw fish and drinking green tea all the time, to exercise and maintain a good state of mind.
Almost all my predictions were confirmed and the notable exception was one that I hadn't in the least anticipated. Okinawans do not eat exactly right. The youngsters on the island have visibly heavier body frames as compared to the people in Tokyo, for instance, though most of them are certainly not overweight. The old people, who constitute most of Okinawa's population, are slim but not frail. During my stay there, I could only observe the lifestyle and habits of the inhabitants of Naha, the capital city. In spite of this, I did encounter a couple of centenarians and I could not be more surprised when I realized that the type of individual that constituted until then an instance of righteous eating in my mind - the (super)centenarian - does in fact eat a lot of sugar.There are many more types of sweets in Okinawa than in Tokyo. Apart from the sugar, Okinawans eat quite a lot of deep-fried food and pork. Add to all this high quantities of white rice and noodles, and you won't get what I would normally consider a longevity promoting diet.
But if the Okinawans do not excel at eating perfectly correct, they do excel, nonetheless, at taking care of each other and at protecting each other's peace and happiness. Where else in this world, except for Okinawa maybe, could two foreigners ride a bus without paying for the tickets, all of this taking place under the eyes of the driver? Now, don't get me wrong. It's not like in Okinawa people don't pay for public transportation. But, as it happens, bills that exceed 1000 yen are unusable in buses and the payment is done when you get off. So when I hopped in the bus without any appropriate money to pay with I couldn't have imagined that I could get away with my honest mistake so easily. But that's what the rule of thumb is there and that's what it should be in any place that would like to call itself a civilized society: mistakes are honest and should be treated as such. On top of this, embracing any other course of action would've certainly led to delays and everyone would've been worse off.
People take things easy in Okinawa. They breathe and live the moment. They take time off to look at the water or at a tree, to always be in touch with their dear ones and to improve themselves. I genuinely love this island and would really like to go back. The sunsets are incredible and simply impossible to capture in pictures. The air is perfectly humid, not too much, not too little, but just the right amount to give you a healthy glowing complexion.Okinawa changed my view about the centenarian lifestyle. What you eat or drink is not nearly important as to what kind of person you are. I could notice on the faces of seemingly old people the spark of curiosity, of intellectual alertness and of the serenity that comes only with an understanding of the deeper intricacies of life.
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