Your body will break down, so how are you approaching that?

 

 "I knew I was going to die, I just didn't know I was going to get old." - Dave Titman 

Right now, as of this writing, I do not experience any sort of chronic pain. I get up in the morning and feel pretty good, and I feel pretty good all day.

If you're of a certain age, you might read that and say, "You're 51, young man, of course you don't have aches and pains yet. But just you wait. They're coming."

To which I reply: (1) I know plenty of people my age who do have some sort of daily pain, so it's a blessing I don't. (2) Oh, believe me, I know it's coming.

Whether it's genetics or the fact that I try to stay active – or a combination of the two – I'm doing OK. But that could end at any time. One injury that doesn't quite heal right and suddenly I'm buying stock in Motrin.

There's no escaping physical decline as time goes on. We can all agree on that. The real question is what your philosophy is around this reality.

Some people throw caution to the wind and figure, hey, we all have an expiration date. You're going to die anyway, so I'm going to indulge and enjoy myself, and if I go a few years earlier than I would otherwise, those are years I would rather avoid anyway.

Others say that, yes, of course we're all going to die. But they want to maximize the years they've been allotted – not only the number of years, but also the quality of those years. They watch what they eat and exercise regularly with the goal of putting off their eventual decline to the very end.

I'm not here to say that either of these attitudes is the "right" one. You do you. (And chances are you're somewhere in the middle of the two extremes anyway.)

I tend to be more in the second camp. I get the recommended amount of cardio each week and I eat fairly well. I'm not perfect in either regard, but relative to many people I know, I do OK.

Maybe more importantly, I'm satisfied with that mindset. However things work out, whether I live to be 55, 75, 95, or 105, I wouldn't change anything. I don't feel like I'm depriving myself. I like what I eat and I enjoy the things I get to do.

I hope you, too, are taking the Frank Sinatra approach to all of this: Regrets? Sure, you've had a few. But in the end, you did it your way.