CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN -- AGE IS NOT AN EXCUSE

I was struck today by reading about Yuichiro Miura, who at 80 has become the oldest person to scale Mt. Everest. Not only that, but he did it after having 4 heart surgeries! Talk about not letting anything stand in your way of your dreams, goals and passion!

His record may however soon be eclipsed by a Nepalese climber, who is gearing up at 81, to reach the summit next week.

There are many examples of people starting new careers, achieving great success at what may considered advanced ages. Grandma Moses started painting at 75. Colonel Sanders began Kentucky Fired Chicken at 65. Peter Mark Roget, a medical doctor, after being forced to retire, wrote and  published Roget's Thesaurus.

And if you look at the divorce statistics, well in 1990 only 1 in 10 couples that got divorced were over 50, now it's 1 in 4! Shows that many "older" folk are not satisfied with just coasting for another 30 years!

So why do so many say "I can't/won't do that because I'm too old!" I feel like slapping these people upside the head to knock some sense into them. (note I am not a violent person...this is for illustration purposes only :)

I get it, there is a fear of changing the tried and true, because of thinking "how many years do I have left, and well this might not be exciting, but I guess I can live with it;" "Do I really want to upset the apple cart?" 


And of course there are all those other excuses you can pile-on to the age excuse by saying "well, you know, financially there could be issues"; "what would the kids/friends/neighbours think" etc. etc. 

But this is your life. Dependent on who is right about the greater cosmos, this is your one shot at a fulfilling, meaningful life. And the reality is, you have so many more years left on life's odometer -- the needle on where middle-age has truly moved. There is a lot of truth to the phrase "50 is the new 30."



My belief is that if you chose to settle, whether professionally or personally, you will get old -- not only chronologically, but in spirit. What keeps you young is passion, for what you do and with whom you are with. Sometimes people are lucky and they have both in their lives, but I would suggest to you that many more are going "it's comfortable."

Now I'm not advocating an en masse job quitting or divorcing amongst those who are post 50. But I do ask you to reflect on your life and say "is this going to be good enough for the next 30 or 40 years?" If the answer is an unequivocal "no," or even a "not sure", then I would suggest you decide what will ignite your passions and begin planning toward that end. 

Dylan Thomas is one of my favourite poets. I read him when I was in high school and his poem  Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night struck a cord with me, even in my youth. The first stanza of the poem reads like this:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Those who know me realize that I will never go gentle into that good night. I am constantly reviewing, reconsidering and reinventing myself. 

So, regardless of what age you are, think about how many lifetimes will you live during your time on this earth? I hope for many more in the next 30 to 40 years!