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Rick Burnett: One of the chapters in your book is entitled Possibility Living for a Vital 100. Robert, you’ve been raised with and have lived the Possibility Thinking philosophy for your entire life. However, is it realistic to believe that we can live to be 100 years old?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Absolutely….although it depends on when you get started. If you’ve been smoking all your life, you’ve been overweight all your life, and you’re 70 years old, you should be grateful that you’re 70. The chances of you reaching 100 are pretty slim. On the other hand, if you’re seventy years old and you’ve been exercising all your life, you haven’t been smoking, you been trim and fit, taking your vitamins, living a positive life and going to church, chances are you will live to be 100. It all depends upon the lifestyle that you’ve lived. The bible tells us that we should live to be 120. And, the fact is the average life span today is 77. So, if that’s the case, where are the missing 43 years. There are 43 years that we are missing. The question is where are they? I’m convinced that we can get at least 20 of those 43 back, which would put us at 97, if not more. So, I’m planning on actually living to be 105; I’m doing that so I can golf my age!

Rick Burnett: Dr. DiSiena, do you agree with living to be 100 years old — is that realistic?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: Well, there are people doing it everyday! The possibility of living to 100 is quite evident in the fact that Dr. Schwartz did a genetic research study and he determined based upon cellular regeneration that our cells should be able to replicate themselves to about 120 years. Now, he just said that in the 80’s and it is interesting to know that when the bible was written a long time ago it said our days should number 120. So, the bible says it, scientists and geneticists say it, so I believe it must be true.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: The other way that science has to determine longevity is by looking at mammals as an organism. How long does the average mammal live? Well we’ve found out that, with the exception of the human being, almost every mammal lives 7 times its maturity rate. So, if it matures at 2, it will live until about 14 years. If you extrapolate that to the human being, we should live to be 120 to 140 years. And we’re not there? Why not?

Rick Burnett: Another reason that people are not living until 120 is toxins. Tell us what you understand about toxicity.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Doug, can talk about detoxification. He is the one that got me started into detoxifying and it has been very productive.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: In terms of detoxifying, one of the things we definitely do is to make sure that all of the detoxifying organs are working properly. In our book we go through all the ways to cleanse those particular eliminatory organs.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Which would those be?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: For instance, the kidneys, the liver, the skin (which is the largest organ of our body), the colon. We talk about fasting as a way to detox. When we have emotional issues and we are stressed out, that causes toxic stress. Not just in a figurative way, but in a literal way we’ve measured levels in people who are stressed out. We also know that when there is nerve irritation, the nerve actually emits a neurotoxin that travels along the nerve route and gets deposited into whatever organ that nerve is supplying. So there are many ways the body becomes toxic. The outlines in the book show how you can begin detoxifying the organs through cleanses, making sure there is no pressure on the nerve system, making sure emotionally we’re stable, so the body can eventually regenerate itself in a toxic free environment.

Rick Burnett: Let’s talk about how we maintain health. Rather than treat disease, because that’s what most of us do, we wait until we’re sick before we take any action. How can we begin to maintain our health — what are some of the first steps we should take? (page 21)

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: The first thing we should realize is why we are doing this. If put it to a higher purpose, it’s not just about self, it’s really so we can serve God. We need a vehicle by which we can serve God. That vehicle happens to be the physical body, which we live in. So, while we have this for 120 years, or for however long we have it, we need to take care of it. Wouldn’t you say Robert, that the number one thing we have to understand is that we have a spiritual purpose. I know you a great quote that you use — why don’t you tell us about it?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Teilhard deChardin said that we are not human beings. He said we are spiritual beings on a human journey. As a result of that, what Doug is saying is very true. When you look at our lives, even the most incredible life ever lived, is but a speck in time. If you take a timeline of the universe from its conception to the end, whenever that might be, and you lived 120 years; if you put that on a timeline, it is but a speck of dust. Our lives are like that. That is what the prophet Isaiah said — you can read it in Isaiah 40 — how insignificant we really are and so where do we find our significance. We don’t find it in wealth, we can’t find it in things or actions. We find it in one place only. That’s on a spiritual plane — where we find our significance through our relationship with God — because He is eternal, without beginning and without end. So, we have to begin there and ask why did God put me on this earth — if I am only but a speck of dust? Why did He put me here — what’s the purpose — what’s the reason? Once you find that, everything else comes into play and that gives us tremendous motivation to do whatever needs to be done.

Rick Burnett: So, number one is to come to grip with your spiritual purpose, and what’s your objection and purpose spiritually — that’s the place to start. We’ve got a spiritual purpose in life.

Rick Burnett: What are some of the first steps we should take to maintain our health? What things can we do besides keeping a system that’s been detoxified? What else can we do?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: I would say the next thing would be to take care of the emotions, so that from that platform we can begin to realize that happiness is not an emotion; happiness is a decision. It’s waking up in the morning saying: "I’m going to be happy today, though the skies may be cloudy and gray, no matter what comes my way, I’m going to be happy today", to quote Ella Wheeler Wilcox. It’s an attitude and a decision that we make to be happy. That will then translate into not only positive thinking, but also actually positive cell generation. Because, the body, as Dr. DiSiena already said, wants to maintain wellness, and maintain balance. The body will do that whatever way it can. So, given the messages that it receives it will try to seek balance and wellness. Now, if it’s not getting the messages because the nerves are being pinched, it’s going to give the wrong messages and put the body out of balance. For instance, if somebody tells you that your bank account only has five dollars in it and you just wrote a ten dollar check, you’ve got a problem, you’ve got to find five more dollars and get it in that checking account right away. So, your brain gets this message — when in reality you find out that you don’t have five dollars in your checking account, you have five hundred dollars. You don’t have to put anything in there.

So, for me the next step would be to find a good chiropractor that can create the alignment of your spine so that your body can communicate with the brain and begin the process of homeostasis, which will be an ongoing regenerative process for the rest of your life.

Rick Burnett: And that will help with this decision which you say is number two, to choose to be happy?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Yes, so it begins spiritually, continues emotionally, and thirdly, goes into the physical. I don’t know if you can necessarily prioritize any of them — it’s like the chicken or the egg, which comes first? I don’t think it really matters, as long as you get on the path and start walking.

Rick Burnett: It seems like it does matter with one — with coming to grips with your spiritual existence.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Except that John Calvin said in order to come to know God, you have to come to know yourself, and in order to come to know yourself, you have to come to know God. So, it’s the same journey, you’re on a journey of self-discovery and you’ll discover God, or vice-versa, you’re on a journey to discover God and you’ll discover yourself.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: I can add to that. It’s like sometimes there are people I see on a professional level and they are so sick that sometimes it’s really hard for them to receive the Father’s love. Once they begin to get a healing, even though that’s God at work, and once we begin to remove the blockages and they begin to receive the healing, they begin to experience God’s miraculous powers in their life, and then they begin to open the door to that spiritual infiltration.

Rick Burnett: Let’s say I wanted to get a physical plan to get myself in order. When you consider detoxification, exercise, you consider the proper nutrition and all the things you guys talk about. Dr. DiSiena, in what order would you put these things?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: You have the spiritual, you have the emotional, and then we have the removal of the blockages so that the nerves can carry on the messages and the power to every cell in the body. Now we need to fill and feed the cells with proper nutrition. That would be my suggestion.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: How important are vitamins?

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: I think vitamins are critically important. Number one, we know that food density is not anything like it was even a generation ago.

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Let alone the way that God created it to be!

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: Absolutely! And then of course, there are all kinds of pesticides so that the fruits and vegetables look nice! So, we really are doing a disservice to ourselves. In order to complement the food that we eat, we should our diets with vitamins and minerals.

Rick Burnett: Robert, do you have anything to add to that?

Dr. Robert A. Schuller: Well, I take a handful of supplements every morning and night; and, I make sure I eat God’s food. I think that is part of the nutritional aspects that are critical for us. The closer the food is to the way God made it, the better it is for you. So, if you pick an apply off a tree that has been grown organically, the way God intended it to be grown, that’s the best thing you can do. The further away you get from that, the worse it is. So, you can go to the grocery store and buy an organic apple! So, for me, I buy organic produce and encourage others to do the same.

Dr. Douglas DiSiena: Let me add something. The body is always regenerating itself. So, if I’m looking at you Rick, and I’ve known you for five or six years now. So, every cell is your body has replicated itself at least twice since I’ve known you. We look at ourselves and we look relatively the same every day. The fact is that every cell is turning over every moment of every day. So, here’s the question, what is replacing that cell? That physical just doesn’t come out of immaterial stuff. It comes from material. That material it replaces itself with is the stuff that you put into our mouth. The food that’s on your plate is the same material that is used to make the cells in your body. I know people, and I have a tough time with this, who will put premium gasoline in the car or put premium oil in the car — yet the car is not remaking itself with that good gas or oil — yet, they will drive through a fast food restaurant and put absolute junk in their body. It just doesn’t make sense to me! I love what Jack LaLanne used to say: "what’s on your plate today, is walking and talking tomorrow." Literally, the food that you eat becomes you! Once you understand that concept, it brings a higher priority to the food that we put into our bodies.