Roosh’s post, “Denying Death” offers a wise sentiment.
My grandmother never saw the ocean. By the time I had my own means to take her to the ocean, she had slipped towards dementia and was under the watchful eye of a greedy sister looking to make an 11th hour move for her fortune.
My grandparents live like it is the Great Depression and will die with huge bank accounts. Why? Their children and grandchildren are all alright, so while their booty will be much appreciated, none of us need it.
In fact, I would gladly trade my inheritance for my grandmother to travel back into time to see the ocean.
“You can’t take it with you.”
That said, I think Roosh misunderstands why a lot of us “health nuts” do what we do.
I’m not trying to live to 100 per se. If you want to understand my view on life, then answer this question:
Would you rather live 30 consecutive years as a 30 year old man (and then die immediately) or age naturally to 100?
To me the question is a no-brainer. I don’t want to be old. I’m trying to live well, deep into middle age.
By living the way I do, if I color my hair I can easily pass for a decade younger. Because I look and feel younger, my body doesn’t limit my experiences. If I want to go to a college night, no one knows I’m actually a creeeeeepy old guy in the corner of the bar.
I will, like all people, invariably hit the wall. I will look old. My joints will ache. My gums will recede. My hair will thin. My face will sag. I will have a turkey neck.
I’d rather hit the wall at 45 or 50 instead of 40 (like most American men). The fight isn’t for 5-10 additional years of life. The fight is for 5-10 additional years of youth.
Every year I don’t hit the wall is another great year of life experiences to nourish me through old age.
What’s more is that we all will age. Jay Kordich – the guy who used to sell the Juice Man juicers in late-night infomercials - just turned 89. (Jack LaLane lived to be 96.)
Watch an interview or video with him. He sounds far more coherent than the average middle-aged man. He’s also married to a woman who is 30 years younger than he is, and who by all accounts worships him. I could think of worse ways to grow old.
So I won’t be trading in my juicer for an Extra Value Meal any time soon.
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They say growing old isn’t for sissies.
I want to eat healthy as my own father is a shining example. He eats as healthy as he can (making Excel Sheets of stuff he can’t/won’t eat), works out, and looks to be in his 40s while he is actually in his 60s.
Like you explained in your post – he does what he needs to, to stay young, not to prevent himself from growing old.
You have hit upon much wisdom here; the quest isn’t for more years it’s for more Life. For more Life you have to keep yourself active and your horizons broad. If you ever feel that old, don’t check out the proverbial old guy at the club, check out the old guy at a tough mudder. Life is what YOU make it. An example from the small sampling of my experience; I knew a soldier, a real soldier. A man who was a 1st Sgt at 21 in Korea and a relentless and fearless slayer; Conan with a B.A.,R..I first met him him when he was 53 and he ran a detail of young men into the dirt…running backwards for the best part of 4 miles and screaming at the top of his lungs while we could barely keep up. He also had 8 children globally, from nearly as many mothers who adored him til the very day he died. I have seldom seen such an outpouring of grief as from the female contingent at his funeral. Years are meaningless in and of themselves, it is what you can do, what you can yet get from such life as is left to you that is important.
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Few days ago met a girl.
Thought she was 22-23. Under good light, no clouded judgement due to alcohol etc.
Turns out she is 34. A raw foodie. “It happened after I started raw foods”.
Or when, at the age of 34, I get to be told by a 23 year old, after a whole night of romping, “Damn, you are like a teenager”, looking down at my midday-wood,
Or when everybody is losing weeks due to seasonal flus and I am enjoying walks in the forest or runs, or some heavy trainings in the same time,
Is when I have no problem skipping the McDonalds at the corner, the chinese cheap shack at the next corner, the kebab house the coming corner, and go home to make myself some food.
Because once you adapt to no sugar no grain no processed etc, it takes time, but then you realize the lasting high from food, not the “I feel good” shit that you eat from some unknown source that gets you high in a second, crashes you in five minutes and makes you run for more crap in under an hour.
I still have my treats, and yet, after my last treat of homemade carrot cake, I had to get some plums to feel like I had a real treat. The inside tastes sweet, the skin fresh, multiple tastes shooting up.
Yea, I may not live to hundred, but as long as I live, I’ll live in the best condition I know how to live.
Modern medicine is good at extending the quantity (i.e. length) of life but not maintaining its quality. Eating good food, exercising, etc. are what maintain quality of life while extending it as well.
“The fight isn’t for 5-10 additional years of life. The fight is for 5-10 additional years of youth.”
exactly.
I agree with this post, I was thinking the same thing after reading Roosh’s post. Not only do I want to maintain my youth, appearance, strength, vitality, etc. I feel much better in the current moment when I eat right, work out right, get enough sleep, take my vitamins and supplements, etc. Like you said, everyone hits the wall at some point, hopefully for me it will be in my mid-forties or fifties, and not my mid-thirties like it is for so many people.
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I believe what most people miss when advocating for the live for now, eat and do what you want lifestyle is that when you’ve made the healthy choices for a long enough time they aren’t hard choices anymore. When you start seeing those choices pay dividends it’s the best kind of positive reinforcement.
The other benefit is those times that you do allow yourself a “cheat” it’s something that feels like a reward yet still reaffirms your usual healthy decisions.
“Would you rather live 30 consecutive years as a 30 year old man (and then die immediately) or age naturally to 100? – To me the question is a no-brainer”.
No-brainer? Wait until you get to 60 and then ask again. I’m 59, that would mean that my 30 consecutive years would be about to expire, yet never have I had a stronger desire to live. My health is excellent, my children are grown, my mortgage is paid off, I have more money than ever before to spend on myself and my wife, I love mountain biking, swimming, running and weight lifting. I couldn’t care less about dying my hair, no need to impress anybody, social pressures are meaningless, most of life’s problems are behind me. Turns out to be the best time of my life, why would I want to cut it short? Most of my relatives lived well into their nineties, two of them are still self-supporting at that age, none of them went into a rest home and mostly they spent no more than two weeks in hospital before the curtain came down. What’s not to like? As my 94 year old aunt recently declared “I’m going down fighting” all I can say is cheers to that.
Off-topic, but regarding your tweet, wouldn’t your friend hooking up with your girl mean he DOESN’T have your back?
On another tweet note, that guys response to why you shouldn’t get married was awesome. I’m gonna name my first bastard son after him (Mark Minster I believe). But the whole concept of validation/approval as a motive to get married while sacrificing your happiness made me think. If you’re willing to sacrfice your happiness for validation, that alone invalidates you. Like that quote: “those who sacrific freedom from security deserve neither”.
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Guy’s wife is a milf.