Hey folks,
I never really thought much about turning 70. In the back of my mind, I knew it was coming but I never gave it much thought. I've led a pretty busy life—I guess I was just focused on living and experiencing it. But last week, I turned 70 and found myself reflecting on the question of aging and longevity.
1. I don't care about living to 140 or 160. It's not worth it to deprive myself of good wine, good food, and good sun just to hit some theoretical, unproven "optimum" that may or may not extract a few extra days on the backend. I'll leave that to the biohackers. As ee cummings once said, "There is some shit I will not eat."
2. I don't fear death. The inevitable finality of death is what gives life meaning. Every moment of every day of your life is imbued with purpose and beauty because of what lies at the end of the road. When you know and accept that you're going to die someday, it becomes obligatory to enjoy and savor life.
3. Give me good a 25-30 more years of mobility, strength, access to thoughts and memories... and I'm a happy man. A content man. Live long, drop dead.
4. After all the business ventures (successful and less than), book deals, lives changed, jars of mayo sold, the thing I'm most proud of is having children. Perhaps more important, though, is seeing my children have children. Becoming grandparents has really made Carrie and I feel like the circle has closed. The genes have passed on. That's as Primal as it gets.
And don't worry, folks. I still plan on hammering away for a good 20 or 30 more years. There's still plenty of work to be done.
Thanks for being here all this time.
