Surviving past Eighty: This is what drives me!

“Today I will do what others won’t,

so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”

You just read it! When I try to talk myself out of my morning 2-mile walk - or my 30-minute strength training session - this is what drives me at 80-plus years of age.

"If you stop doing the difficult things in life, you lose the ability to do them." -- Tom Lane

That's it! I live in a 3-level home and make excuses to climb the stairs repeatedly during the day - so I don't lose the ability to do so. The first-half of my morning walk is mostly uphill, and I do it to keep my heart working at a viable level. The strength training is obviously to stay strong, but also to keep that ":metabolic reservoir" in the event of a traumatic event - and subsequent recovery.

Author at site of Old Man of the Mountain, Cannon Mt., NH

The above photo of me - and the humor - was via my daughter, Lisa, four days ago. At 80.5 years of age - and at 5' 8", 159 lbs. - my best friends from grade school, high school and college can not do what I do - because, frankly - they are dead.

Ditto for most of my contemporaries who are still alive. They can't (won't) do what I do. There is a price, but it is worth it. Simple survival-past-80 is not sufficient in itself. Remaining active and viable at an advanced age IS.

My daily regimen of motion, exercise, nutrition, supplementation and mental stimulation is beyond the scope of this article, but I stick to all of it so that (hopefully) I don't deteriorate into frailty and lack of self-sufficiency. That is what drives me.

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