Finally the secret to my extraordinary health revealed. Writing.

Courtesy of Arts.mic:  

The benefits of writing go far beyond building up your vocabulary. 

No matter the quality of your prose, the act of writing itself leads to strong physical and mental health benefits, like long-term improvements in mood, stress levels and depressive symptoms. In a 2005 study on the emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing, researchers found that just 15 to 20 minutes of writing three to five times over the course of the four-month study was enough to make a difference. 

By writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events, participants were significantly more likely to have fewer illnesses and be less affected by trauma. Participants ultimately spent less time in the hospital, enjoyed lower blood pressure and had better liver functionality than their counterparts. 

It turns out writing can make physical wounds heal faster as well. In 2013, New Zealand researchers monitored the recovery of wounds from medically necessary biopsies on 49 healthy adults. The adults wrote about their thoughts and feelings for just 20 minutes, three days in a row, two weeks before the biopsy. Eleven days later, 76% of the group that wrote had fully healed. Fifty-eight percent of the control group had not recovered. The study concluded that writing about distressing events helped participants make sense of the events and reduce distress. 

Even those who suffer from specific diseases can improve their health through writing. Studies have shown that people with asthma who write have fewer attacks than those who don't; AIDS patients who write have higher T-cell counts. Cancer patients who write have more optimistic perspectives and improved quality of life.

And THAT my friends is why I will live forever.

Okay that might be an exaggeration, but perhaps it really does have something to do with the fact that I never get sick.

I almost hate to say that out loud, because of course that is exactly when you WOULD suddenly get sick, but for the last ten years it has been absolutely true.

In fact so strong is my resistance to illness, that I was the go to guy to take kids to the nurses office when we had a huge flu outbreak in the elementary school that I worked at a few years back.

By the end almost everybody, including the school nurse, had been stricken and forced to take time off, except for myself and a small handful of other hearty souls.

Though I never get a flu shot I have not had the illness in well over twenty years. I have also not had a cold or fever in more than ten, and besides a small tickle in my throat, that I get once a year like clockwork, I have exhibited no symptoms of any kind.

Could it be the constant writing?

Well that seems to be just about as good a reason as any. Though to be honest I also work out at least five days a week, and eat pretty healthy.

However writing allows me to pour all of the potentially toxic thoughts swirling in my brain out onto the internet, where they are not only shared with others but also attract positive feedback, which cannot help but have a beneficial impact.

By purging myself of information that I find troubling in written form, I essentially exorcise my own demons and keep both mind and body ticking along nicely.

And people wonder what motivates me. Well now you know.