I’m Starting a “50 to 100” Club – Wanna Join?
Ten or so years ago when I started publicly declaring that I intended to live to 100, invitations to dinner parties – or any social event, for that matter – experienced a noticeable drop.
That’s not really painful for me because, as an introvert, I’m not empowered by large gatherings and am a boor at dinner parties anyway. But it’s really unfair to my bride of 49 3/4 years who can, and does, enliven any get-together with her enthusiasm for banter and selfless interest in other people’s stories.
I’m not sure what it says about my personality to become rather immune to this sort of repulsion. Maybe it’s part of the reason I did OK in my sales career where rejection was a key component of the “game.”
Nonetheless, undaunted and displaying yet another layer of arrogance, three years ago – at age 75 – I decided to up the “ante” and declare my end goal to be 112 1/2. There was simple (delusional?) logic behind the decision: I wanted to have 1/3 of my life left to make up for things I hadn’t gotten done in the first 2/3. (Writer note: Don’t probe – they are painful items and never to be publicly revealed. The victim recipients know what they are).
The response to my announcement? Yawns, mostly.
Probably because the weirdness had already been established and tolerated. The eye-rolls were shorter or the conversations changed quicker.
Or maybe – just maybe – it was because there’s an increasing acceptance of the possibility of living healthfully to 100+ versus the prevailing mental picture of wheelchairs, walkers, nurses, needles, dementia, drool, and Depends that prevailed in earlier (albeit brief) conversations.
What if –
– there was a roadmap that increased the possibility of sneaking up on 100 with vitality, vim, and vigor?
– you fell short by a handful of years but beat the average (80) by a decade or more?
-you were able to not only put more years in your life but more life in your years?
-you could make your future, at 50+, bigger than your past?
-you could face a second-half/third age with enthusiasm rather than fear and trepidation?
Pipe dream? Maybe.
This is an idea that has been rattling in this aging noggin for a long-time. In fact, a few years ago I reserved the domain name 50to100club.com with a vision in my head of providing a resource for those interested in learning more about how the second half of life can be the most meaningful and productive period of their lifespan.
So, I guess I’m sort of testing the waters a bit here. Short of a formal survey, which may follow, I’m hoping to gauge reader interest in having access to a resource that collects and repurposes content from new science and trends on aging, health and wellness, second half careers/retirement and building and connecting a community with similar interests through articles, podcasts, forums, live conferences, webinars, and the like.
Maybe I’m misreading the interest and the need – but I don’t think so. A simple “yay or nay” by way of a comment below, or to my email at gary@makeagingwork.com, would be helpful, especially if your “yay” offered up a suggestion or two on what sort of content would be most helpful to you.
Thanks for your help!
I am interested in exploring the ideas further.
Absolutely.
I am all about helping people “of our age” to live a quality life. I am very interested in learning more about the role of genetics in aging and in cell therapy for anti-aging. I also believe in being around and engaging with younger people to keep our mind and ideas fresh.
Definitely a yay!
Yes, I’m in!
Topics
Exercise – specifically how to get started and what support is out there.
Use of personal trainer? How to find one that understands I’m not trying to hurt myself.
Food, lot of interest in the nutritional value and what benefits you can get from getting rid of certain foods and what foods must be included.
Working. How to find areas of need and interest in a particular area. What resources are out there to tap into.
Just some thoughts
Sounds intriguing!
Yay absolutely! I have lots of interest in exercise and plant based foods! Also good books to read to keep my mind sharp!
Create a FB group for the club. Bad thing is everyone would have to do FB. If you need help I know how. See Colorado 14ers FB group.
Yes please. How to include fun into this idea.
Count me in! I like where you are going with this
Interested. Exercise, diet and “social” opportunities beyond working.
What a great idea. As an Active Ageing Mentor and Coach, I am very interested in joining this juggernaut and collectively seeing where and how far we can take this idea. Cheers – John.
Sounds good.
I’m in.
Sounds like a great idea!
I am interested. My goal is to live long and die quickly – to be useful until the end and not languish through years of poor health.
HI Gary,
Several reflections: It is very hard for some folks to declare an age to which they want to live. That is God’s territory in the popular thinking so declaring an end age goal seems weird, sort of wrong. Secondly, with the great societal focus on getting to “retirement” (whatever that is) most folks never thought about how to maximize their years both in terms of quality and quantity. I pull back for the term “successful aging” because it is so focused on health. Folk with major health limitations can age well too. I prefer the ideal of flourishing with age or flourishing in phase three. Also much prefer the idea of a scatter chart for flourishing rather than a road map. The longer we are around the more individual our way is, we have fellow travelers but walk unique paths. Road map is too constrained for me. I would be happy to be a fellow traveler, your ideas will trigger many great responses from others. Thank you
Roger, you know that I always appreciate your thoughtful perspective. Flourishing is a great choice of words. In fact, it’s a word used extensively in the world of positive psychology. I hadn’t thought about the “scatter shot” vs “roadmap”. That’s a helpful thought – thanks.
You know I’m interested, Gary-count me in!
Mary, thanks for joining in. Stay tuned.
I am a yay and understand where Roger A Knisely is coming from; it is the Lord who determines how long we live. My aim is to live well and look after myself as best I can so that my latter years are as healthy as possible; always mindful that good health is a gift from God. It’s great to be able to share ways of doing what we can to live as full a life as possible. I like Lona’s comment!
Here, here, Bob. I’m with you on this. We have a birthright of good health and don’t do a good job of respecting it. I believe that we can have significant impact on being able to “live long and die short.”
I’m interested
Thanks, Sis. We can talk more about what you’d like to see included.
Yes, I am interested. I am a couple of years from a transition, and I would be interested in some networking with others on how to find other areas of activity.
Mark, that’s very helpful to know. It is one of the areas that I’d like to have as part of the idea.
I am interested! I love the articles that help us know the best way to “really live until we die”….whatever age that may be. I want to keep walking, talking, sharing and making a difference till the end! I see so many people who give up on how they eat, exercise (or fail to exercise) and engage in life and just have a negative attitude about aging. I want to keep learning and growing. Thanks for all your interesting articles!
Thanks, Sue. That’s also where I want to go. We don’t need to stop growing and learning. We’ll see what develops.
Yay!
Gary,
I’m in. I always enjoy and greatly appreciate your perspective and articles.
Why not? I’m all for more fun and a longer life.
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