Achieving Medicare eligibility is a real shock; did that last year. I had to laugh at "...sadly, drinking less." I'm sorry to hear that happens to men, too.
I retired, reluctantly, at 59. My husband urged me to do it, as he'd been retired for years at that point. We had weathered three bouts with cancer between us, and I had watched my active, athletic mom deteriorate fast after she turned 75, so it seemed like a good decision. Now, six years on, I'm glad. My husband received another cancer diagnosis, a tough one. It is somewhat easier to bear knowing that we've gone all over the world during the past few years.
I also became a gym rat, after reading the Mark Ripptoe posts on the blog. Muscle mass is better than ever, even if the skin over them is crepey. At least I can hold my grandson upside down by his ankles.
First off, Happy Birthday. Second keep your brain working as well as your body. My now 90 year old husband is still keeping up with all the his science journals, perhaps just so he can complain how woke they are. Even though he has a short term memory problem there is no fish he can't identify, no oyster problem he can't solve, possibly because he has researched their disease for almost 70 years now, and no greenie science he cannot disprove. Keep your brain active,it will serve you well. I remember your first blogs, and have been following all that time. My brain has been active too, my body not so much. But good luck on keeping both your brain and body active, Your perspective is always good to read.
Very nice, Glenn. Very nice! Lots to be grateful for … including Instapundit. I’m sure you’re aware of how many people you’ve touched over the years.
I’m also a “Year of the Rat” guy (although 1 cycle, or 12 years older). I’m a lifelong Masters swimmer (D1 in college), and still manage to swim 1.5-2.0 miles everyday. It’s a great way to stay fit and workout with friends.
I’m not a weight-lifter, but as part of my regular strength regimen I include bench-pressing 4 sets of 25 reps of 150 lbs. three times a week. I didn’t think that was a big deal until I saw that the amazing 33 year old Zohran could barely do three reps of 135 lbs!
Short version: if you love what you do, don’t retire.
I’m actually going to turn 70 this Sunday so I’m probably not the right person to dare to lecture the professor about aging. As a matter of fact, I’m having a very tough time with the idea of turning 70. I’m not entirely sure why, but when my father died aged 60 when I was 19, I thought that at least he had lived a good long time. Wut!
I was born and grew up in Glasgow Scotland, and even then the life expectancy for men, even like my father, who was a well educated high school principal was around 60 years of age.
I think you covered all the bases about what is a compelling argument for staying busy and even working for a living, even if you actually don’t need the money, because I know there are people who continue to work partially because they need the money but also partially because if they were to suddenly have a lot of free time, then it would be immediately hoovered up by Family who would want them to travel to places that they did not want to go to, work on home projects that they would hate and socialize more with family and friends that they didn’t want to be around. I know all this sounds very cynical and it’s certainly not true in my case but it’s a real phenomenon.
You cannot overstate the importance of staying as fit as you possibly can as you get older. I only started going to the gym for the first time in my life at the age of 58 when I discovered I could not keep up with my new baby granddaughter for more than a few minutes. But what I did not realize is that I would meet some of the best people I’ve ever met in my life, at our local gym!
For the most part, and especially in the HIIT classes that I do two or three times a week, I’m certainly the oldest participant, but I get so much joy out of the fact that it’s so much fun to hang around with somewhat younger people who genuinely don’t seem to care What age I am even if they give it a moments thought.
Our California friends, (although they are, of course, for the most part invincibly liberal), at least have a real “penchant” for staying as young and as fit as possible for as long as possible. We have very dear friends from San Diego who spend half the year in our delightful neighborhood near Charlotte, whose philosophy is “happy, healthy, dead.” In other words, there is no point in living a long life if you spend it incapacitated, miserable and immobile.
Our President, whether you like him or not, (which I do) will be 80 on his next birthday and takes a quarter swing when he drives a golf ball and can still hit the ball straight well over 200 yards.
What’s the difference? Attitude. It’s always about attitude - and gratitude.
All of us have physical challenges throughout our lives, which seem to become especially prominent as we age, partially, I believe, because we have more time to think about it, but if we can attain and maintain an attitude of gratitude towards all the blessings that we have, then the aches and pains are largely mitigated by being grateful, for example, of living in a beautiful city like Knoxville and all the many blessings you humbly enumerated.
Please don’t take this that I think that for one moment that you are complaining. You are not. As have been mentioned by a number of your other correspondents in the Instapundit tribe/ family, you look great and the fact that you feel great is attribute to your Self discipline and (somewhat reluctant) moderation in all things
Like many others, I have taken your advice on a number of things about health, fitness, lifting and supplements so you are your own best advertisement for aging well.
And as long as you can have the feeling that you are contributing to others and being of service to them, which you most certainly do, then your life is well worth living and long may it continue.
As Charles Schultz’s resident philosopher Linus once said “it is better to light a single candle, than to curse the darkness.”
I was having similar thoughts this morning. Twenty years ago I started my current occupation, driving tour buses for bands. I thought I do it for five years, but it’s been enjoyable and the pay is good so here I am twenty years later and in no hurry to stop. But I was 37 then, am about to turn 58, and in the same amount of time from now I’ll be 78. It’s given me winters off to travel in Europe and South America and it’s nice to have a job that doesn’t feel like a job, but it’s kind of scary how fast life goes by. I was going say something else, but couldn’t comment for a few hours while my subscription activated and I forgot.
I usually define young (not young adult) as 21-43, middle age as 43-65, and old age as 65-plus. That pretty evenly, I hope, will define my adult life after my first college graduation. 43 is when I started needing to wear reading glasses, and the doctor said that's true for most people. My wife's Mom is 90 and in failing health, so we now live closer to her. I'm 60 now and already collect a military pension so I don't need to work. My wife wants me to retire fully, but that basically means work on projects at home.
And yes, Happy Birthday. I've been reading your blog since 9/11 and found your concerns about our reaction to that event to be spot on.
Happy birthday! I decided to hang it up when I realized that I'd done as much as I could in my position as head librarian at a tiny women's college. Now I plan my life around traveling and reading the books I want to read, rather than what I'm supposed to read for "professional development." (Warning: librarianship has the world's dullest professional literature.) If you still like your job and your students, keep at it.
A friend of my wife remarked to her that there are three phases of retirement: the go-go years, the slo-go years, and the no-go years. We still feel we are in the go-go years. I retired from financial services at 67 ten years ago. My wife, who is younger, retired three years later. I taught for six years as an adjunct in the business school at UMass Lowell. No longer a practitioner, I started to feel a bit stale despite efforts to keep up. My wife has been very active in a variety of volunteer roles including SCORE mentoring small business owners.
We have been cutting back on commitments to spend more time traveling and doing fun things before age starts really catching up with us. I was struck by your remarks about helping the younger generation out financially. We have three adult children and four wonderful grandkids. Wife and I realized years ago that the Bank of Mom and Dad never closes.
You look about 45 by the way. Show off! Whatever you do, keep Instapunditing - it’s my go-to over breakfast.
I’m a little older than you and retired at 71. I found the work I did more difficult as I was now using 4.5 surgical loops. They do get heavy after a while. The fun part is that my wife and I do much more traveling. The sad part is I read a news report of a man who slipped and fell hiking in an area of upstate New York where I recently also hiked. That he fell there wasn’t shocking but they reported him as an elderly man, who is younger than me. I chalk that up to people age at different rates. I will keep on hiking and enjoying life with my soulmate.
Prof. Reynolds: This article really hits home. I’m 63, also a lawyer, divorced, 25 year old twins, and having lived with my mom the last 2 years of her 96 years to help her out (although she routinely reminded me that I was still her baby—and did my laundry for me!). I work for a state agency now, and want to make it another 10 years. I’ve been reading you since blogging began, and have always felt an affinity with your journey. To be honest, reading this article (especially in the utter chaos we are now living in) really gave me some hope. I wish you the best.
61 and feeling every bit of it. Fake knee, aches and pains and a new diabetes diagnosis so now I'm jabbing myself three times a day.
I own a small IT company and the stress is unbearable. Every morning I wake up, sit on the edge of the bed, sigh, and wish I was doing something else. I hate it. I don't want this to be the rest of my life but it's getting late to start a new venture and we have bills to pay.
Stress is magnified by not feeling well and being worried about your health. Similar stuff on my end. Be kind to yourself and experience some joy wherever you can find or make it happen.
Achieving Medicare eligibility is a real shock; did that last year. I had to laugh at "...sadly, drinking less." I'm sorry to hear that happens to men, too.
I retired, reluctantly, at 59. My husband urged me to do it, as he'd been retired for years at that point. We had weathered three bouts with cancer between us, and I had watched my active, athletic mom deteriorate fast after she turned 75, so it seemed like a good decision. Now, six years on, I'm glad. My husband received another cancer diagnosis, a tough one. It is somewhat easier to bear knowing that we've gone all over the world during the past few years.
I also became a gym rat, after reading the Mark Ripptoe posts on the blog. Muscle mass is better than ever, even if the skin over them is crepey. At least I can hold my grandson upside down by his ankles.
As always, thanks for the daily encouragement.
First off, Happy Birthday. Second keep your brain working as well as your body. My now 90 year old husband is still keeping up with all the his science journals, perhaps just so he can complain how woke they are. Even though he has a short term memory problem there is no fish he can't identify, no oyster problem he can't solve, possibly because he has researched their disease for almost 70 years now, and no greenie science he cannot disprove. Keep your brain active,it will serve you well. I remember your first blogs, and have been following all that time. My brain has been active too, my body not so much. But good luck on keeping both your brain and body active, Your perspective is always good to read.
Thanks, Glenn, for everything you do.
You do understand, I hope, that you are a National Treasure.
Very nice, Glenn. Very nice! Lots to be grateful for … including Instapundit. I’m sure you’re aware of how many people you’ve touched over the years.
I’m also a “Year of the Rat” guy (although 1 cycle, or 12 years older). I’m a lifelong Masters swimmer (D1 in college), and still manage to swim 1.5-2.0 miles everyday. It’s a great way to stay fit and workout with friends.
I’m not a weight-lifter, but as part of my regular strength regimen I include bench-pressing 4 sets of 25 reps of 150 lbs. three times a week. I didn’t think that was a big deal until I saw that the amazing 33 year old Zohran could barely do three reps of 135 lbs!
Heh-heh (tm).
Best wishes!
Short version: if you love what you do, don’t retire.
I’m actually going to turn 70 this Sunday so I’m probably not the right person to dare to lecture the professor about aging. As a matter of fact, I’m having a very tough time with the idea of turning 70. I’m not entirely sure why, but when my father died aged 60 when I was 19, I thought that at least he had lived a good long time. Wut!
I was born and grew up in Glasgow Scotland, and even then the life expectancy for men, even like my father, who was a well educated high school principal was around 60 years of age.
I think you covered all the bases about what is a compelling argument for staying busy and even working for a living, even if you actually don’t need the money, because I know there are people who continue to work partially because they need the money but also partially because if they were to suddenly have a lot of free time, then it would be immediately hoovered up by Family who would want them to travel to places that they did not want to go to, work on home projects that they would hate and socialize more with family and friends that they didn’t want to be around. I know all this sounds very cynical and it’s certainly not true in my case but it’s a real phenomenon.
You cannot overstate the importance of staying as fit as you possibly can as you get older. I only started going to the gym for the first time in my life at the age of 58 when I discovered I could not keep up with my new baby granddaughter for more than a few minutes. But what I did not realize is that I would meet some of the best people I’ve ever met in my life, at our local gym!
For the most part, and especially in the HIIT classes that I do two or three times a week, I’m certainly the oldest participant, but I get so much joy out of the fact that it’s so much fun to hang around with somewhat younger people who genuinely don’t seem to care What age I am even if they give it a moments thought.
Our California friends, (although they are, of course, for the most part invincibly liberal), at least have a real “penchant” for staying as young and as fit as possible for as long as possible. We have very dear friends from San Diego who spend half the year in our delightful neighborhood near Charlotte, whose philosophy is “happy, healthy, dead.” In other words, there is no point in living a long life if you spend it incapacitated, miserable and immobile.
Our President, whether you like him or not, (which I do) will be 80 on his next birthday and takes a quarter swing when he drives a golf ball and can still hit the ball straight well over 200 yards.
What’s the difference? Attitude. It’s always about attitude - and gratitude.
All of us have physical challenges throughout our lives, which seem to become especially prominent as we age, partially, I believe, because we have more time to think about it, but if we can attain and maintain an attitude of gratitude towards all the blessings that we have, then the aches and pains are largely mitigated by being grateful, for example, of living in a beautiful city like Knoxville and all the many blessings you humbly enumerated.
Please don’t take this that I think that for one moment that you are complaining. You are not. As have been mentioned by a number of your other correspondents in the Instapundit tribe/ family, you look great and the fact that you feel great is attribute to your Self discipline and (somewhat reluctant) moderation in all things
Like many others, I have taken your advice on a number of things about health, fitness, lifting and supplements so you are your own best advertisement for aging well.
And as long as you can have the feeling that you are contributing to others and being of service to them, which you most certainly do, then your life is well worth living and long may it continue.
As Charles Schultz’s resident philosopher Linus once said “it is better to light a single candle, than to curse the darkness.”
Shine on you crazy diamond!
I was having similar thoughts this morning. Twenty years ago I started my current occupation, driving tour buses for bands. I thought I do it for five years, but it’s been enjoyable and the pay is good so here I am twenty years later and in no hurry to stop. But I was 37 then, am about to turn 58, and in the same amount of time from now I’ll be 78. It’s given me winters off to travel in Europe and South America and it’s nice to have a job that doesn’t feel like a job, but it’s kind of scary how fast life goes by. I was going say something else, but couldn’t comment for a few hours while my subscription activated and I forgot.
Keep going. I did and am now 90 years old and still mobile,
I'm almost 89 and still mobile, but boy do I feel it. My brain is much more active than my body. Congratulations to you.
I usually define young (not young adult) as 21-43, middle age as 43-65, and old age as 65-plus. That pretty evenly, I hope, will define my adult life after my first college graduation. 43 is when I started needing to wear reading glasses, and the doctor said that's true for most people. My wife's Mom is 90 and in failing health, so we now live closer to her. I'm 60 now and already collect a military pension so I don't need to work. My wife wants me to retire fully, but that basically means work on projects at home.
And yes, Happy Birthday. I've been reading your blog since 9/11 and found your concerns about our reaction to that event to be spot on.
Getting older seriously sucks. BUT the alternative. :)
Happy birthday! I decided to hang it up when I realized that I'd done as much as I could in my position as head librarian at a tiny women's college. Now I plan my life around traveling and reading the books I want to read, rather than what I'm supposed to read for "professional development." (Warning: librarianship has the world's dullest professional literature.) If you still like your job and your students, keep at it.
Best wishes for what lies ahead. As long as you keep up your energy level and powers of thought, keep going!
A friend of my wife remarked to her that there are three phases of retirement: the go-go years, the slo-go years, and the no-go years. We still feel we are in the go-go years. I retired from financial services at 67 ten years ago. My wife, who is younger, retired three years later. I taught for six years as an adjunct in the business school at UMass Lowell. No longer a practitioner, I started to feel a bit stale despite efforts to keep up. My wife has been very active in a variety of volunteer roles including SCORE mentoring small business owners.
We have been cutting back on commitments to spend more time traveling and doing fun things before age starts really catching up with us. I was struck by your remarks about helping the younger generation out financially. We have three adult children and four wonderful grandkids. Wife and I realized years ago that the Bank of Mom and Dad never closes.
You look about 45 by the way. Show off! Whatever you do, keep Instapunditing - it’s my go-to over breakfast.
Many Happy Returns, Professor!
I’m a little older than you and retired at 71. I found the work I did more difficult as I was now using 4.5 surgical loops. They do get heavy after a while. The fun part is that my wife and I do much more traveling. The sad part is I read a news report of a man who slipped and fell hiking in an area of upstate New York where I recently also hiked. That he fell there wasn’t shocking but they reported him as an elderly man, who is younger than me. I chalk that up to people age at different rates. I will keep on hiking and enjoying life with my soulmate.
Prof. Reynolds: This article really hits home. I’m 63, also a lawyer, divorced, 25 year old twins, and having lived with my mom the last 2 years of her 96 years to help her out (although she routinely reminded me that I was still her baby—and did my laundry for me!). I work for a state agency now, and want to make it another 10 years. I’ve been reading you since blogging began, and have always felt an affinity with your journey. To be honest, reading this article (especially in the utter chaos we are now living in) really gave me some hope. I wish you the best.
61 and feeling every bit of it. Fake knee, aches and pains and a new diabetes diagnosis so now I'm jabbing myself three times a day.
I own a small IT company and the stress is unbearable. Every morning I wake up, sit on the edge of the bed, sigh, and wish I was doing something else. I hate it. I don't want this to be the rest of my life but it's getting late to start a new venture and we have bills to pay.
I guess it could be worse.
Stress is magnified by not feeling well and being worried about your health. Similar stuff on my end. Be kind to yourself and experience some joy wherever you can find or make it happen.