FREEDOM 55
Wednesday Oct. 31, 2018
I have reached an age when most people would conclude they are entering ‘that last 1/3rd of life’ – for those who aim for 100, 2/3rds would be ‘past the point of no return’.
Having just crossed the 67 line, I’m more clear than ever with my math.
I’ve declared my 115 goal but not fully explained it. I don’t plan to rest at 80 and coast. I might slow down at 100 and start coasting around 110. It will all depend on science. By the time I get to those high numbers the internet of things, artificial intelligence and replacement parts will give us entirely new ways to live well and live long. And longer. My job is simply to stay healthy, stay ‘ready’ and pursue life-lengthening strategies and activities. Sleep. Diet. Major progress has been made, but I have a way to go yet.
I’ve discussed these ideas. People roll their eyes, they laugh and they have no concept of living really long and really well. That comes, I believe, from them having preconceived notions that the way things have always been is the way they will always be. I don’t see it that way at all. Sure, we open newspapers and regularly see people younger than us, presumably healthier than us – gone. Well, clearly they weren’t healthier.
I’m not foolish enough to suggest that believing in long active healthy life is the way to get it, but I cannot imagine getting it without that attitude. Can you?
First we have to believe it – then we have to do it. Maybe, with good genes, I’m overconfident. I’ll take that risk along with the good genes. The world is changing so rapidly and I don’t want to miss it.
Someone joked a couple of years ago that ‘freedom 55’ didn’t mean retiring at 55, but rather ‘when your kids reach 55’. I’d prefer it to be when my grandchildren reach 55. When Isla turns 55 I’ll be 116. When Alex is 55 I’ll be 118. I plan to be there!
