Retirement? Nah...

This week, I got asked for the millionth time  "are you still working." 

Well...yes.  I'm 61, consider myself pretty decent at what I do, and really have no plans to retire.  Oh I suppose I will retire eventually but right now I'm having too much fun.

I still look forward to coming to work in the morning (I also look forward to going home to my wife of 38 years).  And I do manage to play a bit.  The bike (which you probably hear too much about), hiking (with my wife-we especially like to find waterfalls), my grandkids. 

A buddy is getting me started in fly fishing and I just bought my first fishing license in probably 30 years.  So life is good and full and meaningful and rewarding. 

I've also said too many times that I'll give up my day job before I'll give up walking the football sidelines with George Quarles.  That's a gig that pretty much everybody would want to trade with me on. 

What is age, anyway?  Didn't President Reagan take office at 72?  I've said for many years that age is a number and now I'm fast approaching the age where it is time to put up or shut up.

So what does it take to keep those golden years golden?

I met a lady this week that was 62, looked 42, and rode a bike like she was 22.  She was asked by somebody else what the secret was.

Her answer:  Exercise and nutrition.

It should come as no surprise that I agree with that, but for most, there's a lot more to it than that.

Like genetics.  If your parents were healthy into their senior years, your chances just went up.  If they died young...well...you better go that extra mile.

And lifestyle.  You parents are more likely to have done manual labor, slept 8 hours a night, and eaten food that came from local providers. 

Most jobs today don't involve physical effort.  Even my job requires me to spend too much time in front of a computer (which I'm doing at this moment, by the way).  Lots of jobs are like that. 

I can tell you that in health care, paperwork is at times overwhelming.  Back in those early days, we spent a lot more time in direct patient care.  It seems now that the ratio of patient care to paper work is about 1:1. 

And nobody likes it.  Nobody.

Our lives today are so full (which is a good thing) and hectic (which isn't always) that it hardly leaves time for us to do those things that we know are good for us.  Like exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and laugh a lot.

What?  Laugh a lot?  What's that got to do with it?  

Check the research.  Those that laugh a lot live longer.  And that sometimes means time away from work, exercise, maybe even family. 

It means that we hang out with friends and relax and enjoy conversation and camaraderie.  It means we laugh at ourselves and see humor in things all around us. 

Didn't see that one coming, huh.