Have you ever wondered what the secret to living a long, healthy life is?
Perhaps you’ve heard your grandparents talk about strange things they would do, like drink a glass of red wine with dinner every night or have a raw egg or two for breakfast. Or maybe you’ve been sucked into believing that you shouldn’t eat red meat or that you should take up running.
Well, what if there was someone older and wiser who had a different idea? Would you take life advice from a 109-year-old woman?
Meet Jessie Gallan
On January 2, 2015, Jessie Gallan celebrated her 109th birthday. She was born in Scotland and grew up in a very small farm cottage. She shared a bed with her six siblings (yes, one bed), and left her home to go to work when she was just 13 years old.
Ms. Gallan worked hard and took care of herself, but there’s one thing in particular that she credits for living such a long life: Avoiding men.
Ms. Gallan Never Got Married
“My secret to a long life has been staying away from men. They’re just more trouble than they’re worth. I also made sure that I got plenty of exercise, eat a nice warm bowl of porridge every morning and have never gotten married. I always worked hard and seldom would I ever take a holiday. I left home when I was 13 and began a job milking cows. I always had good jobs with very nice people. It’s amazing to see how completely different the world is now from the one I grew up in,” she told the Daily Mail back in 2015.
Gallan Still Gets In Some Exercise
Gallan truly believes that staying single her whole life helped keep her in great shape. And while she may be one of the oldest living people in the UK, she is still able to move around and get exercise. Perhaps all of her muscles are still limber because she wasn’t stressed out over a man for the majority of her life. Who knows?
“Jessie still takes part in the group activities, she likes her exercise. She goes to all the concerts and enjoys her church on a Sunday. And obviously she has led a very healthy lifestyle,” senior support worker Rebecca Streeter told the Daily Mail.
The Oldest Living Woman In Scotland
Gallan became Scotland’s oldest woman in June 2013 at the age of 109. That’s a pretty cool title to have, isn’t it?
Of course, Gallan would tell you that she wouldn’t still be living if she had met a guy and tied the knot! One has to wonder if not having children was also part of it — how many gray hairs have you gotten just from your kids this year?
Gallan might be gray-haired these days, but she’s living her best life, and there isn’t a man — dead or alive — who can claim to have made it better for her.
