Aging
Every Saturday evening, my high school math teacher, Mr. Pierre, sends an email out to a large group of former students and others entitled “The Saturday Night Survey”. It started in the nineties as a survey of whether (and at what time) a small group of college students checked their email on a Saturday night. It has since grown to a larger list and includes a weekly question. On Wednesday, Mr. Pierre sends an email “Survey Says” with the answers of those who responded.
This week’s question was interesting – “Are you afraid of getting old?” Since I haven’t written in a bit, I thought I’d share my answer:
Great question.
Afraid? To be honest, probably a little bit. I’m 32, and pretty athletic, and I can’t say that I’m thrilled with the idea of physical deterioration and, ultimately, death. But I think I have a pretty healthy acceptance of the idea. There’s not a whole lot I can do about aging. I try to remain as active as possible and take as much advantage of my time here.
On the subject of aging, one of my pet peeves is people who always complain about getting old. “Man, we’re starting to get old!” Get over it. There’s a high correlation between those people and not really living anyway. I’ve learned over the years that attitude matters a whole lot more than age. A few weeks ago I went on a four day ski trip with someone in his eighties – and he didn’t start skiing until his fifties!
That’s my idea of getting old! I plan to stay as physically and intellectually active as my body will allow. Many people think that keeping your brain active is the key to longevity. I hope I have lots of good years left.
So, afraid, a little. Intimidated? No.