You are Never too Old To Grab the Brass Ring

In 1944, when his plane was shot down over the Pacific, former President George Bush Sr. took his first parachute jump. In 2009, at the age of eighty-five, he jumped for the seventh time. Perhaps not his last because he said he enjoyed it so much he planned to do it again when he turns 90.

Never too old

 Tao Porchon-Lynch, at the age of ninety-three, after her doctor suggested it was time for her to slow down, began a career in ballroom dancing with her twenty-three year old partner.

Olga Kotelko is a ninety-two year old track and field star is considered one of the world's greatest athletes.

Tanae Watanabe, the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest, is seventy-three years old. Min Bahadur Sherchan of Nepal reached the peak in 2008 at the age of seventy-six.

The youngster among this crowd is sixty-four year old Jim MacLellan who rides his motorcycle throughout the United States and Canada.

My great-grandparents, who lived well into their nineties, liked to tell the story of the day my seventy-three year old great-grandpa, who still practiced his barbering profession, had a customer who just could not stop complaining about all the aches and pains he had. "When you get to be may age." he said. Tired of the moaning man sitting in his barber chair great-grandpa asked, "How old are you?"

"Sixty," was the man's reply.

 "Oh for gods sake, I'm a hell of a lot older than you." My blunt spoken great-grandpa responded.

As we age we have choices. We can choose to believe we are too old, find a comfortable rocking chair, and sit.  Or, we can keep moving, keep trying new things, and keep living until the grim reaper pays us a call.

Although some of what happens as we age is in the genes, and we can't control it, for example my father is the recipient of the Huntington gene. What we can control, we ought to control in a positive manner. No matter our age, it is not to late to grab the brass ring and go for the gusto.

If you would like to read more:

• Accomplishing amazing athletic feats — in their 80s and 90s, Today, MSN, Laura Coffey, August 28, 2011
• 73 Year Old Woman Becomes Oldest Woman to Climb Mt. Everest, CNN, May 19, 2012
• George Bush Srs Parachute Jump, BBC, June 13, 2009
• Senior Profile, Active Geezering, Accessed June 29, 2012