New Podcast Release: Ximena Abogabir

The latest episode of "Lives Well Lived," the podcast I co-host with Kasia de Lazari-Radek, is now available.

In this episode, Kasia and I speak with Ximena Abogabir, a journalist and social activist from Chile, who has dedicated her life to promoting peace, environmental awareness, and healthy ageing. Below are some of Ximena’s thoughts about living well, lightly edited for clarity. You can now listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform.

On Longevity and Living Well:

I always thought that I'm going to live to a hundred. Because it's very surprising for me to find out now that I've done what you have to do if you want to live to a hundred. I mean...I love to do exercise. I love Mediterranean diet. I love to learn. I love to have lots of relations. I'm very friendly. And that's exactly what you have to do to take care of the way you age. Because it's not a matter of how many years you're going to live. The saying, I'm going to live to a hundred, it's provoking. It's not important... And the idea is to age healthy, not long. Age healthy, and then die quickly.

On the Importance of Meaningful Work:

When I was 70 years old, suddenly I discovered that people were looking at me as an old lady. And I didn't like it. They were trying to protect me…I decided I would leave Casa de la Paz, (The House of Peace) where I thought I would end my life, and I founded Travesía Cien, which means “the journey to 100”. And it's so interesting because that makes me get up in the morning full of enthusiasm, full of new ideas, full of being able to contribute, to find meaning for every day. And I think that is the best choice you can make – to have a meaningful life.

On the Power of Nonviolence:

What we did was a very special movement of nonviolence. And we finally got rid of our dictator with a pencil. We wrote a little mark saying no. And that was it.

On Overcoming Loneliness:

When you have a vocation of helping others and making other people happy, you will never be lonely because you will be surrounded by people. Wherever you go with the attitude of, I want to help, that's it. You open any door with that. Go to a church or go to a group of neighbours or go to a school, whatever. The world needs people who are willing to help.