I am reading a book titled Outlive: the Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, MD. I had never thought that I would grow old. I just figured that I would die young. Since my parents are in their seventies and I am fifty, I can now imagine myself growing old.
Dr. Attia used the phrase “centenarian decathlon” as a way for his patients to work out goals for when they get old. The idea is that you list ten things that you want to still be able to do when you hit 80, 90 or 100. Here is my list.
1. I want to be able to walk around my city and parks for at least a mile. I love to walk by the Fox River and take pictures of the ducks, water and trees. I also enjoy walking around our historic downtown area especially during Friday Night Live and art crawls.
2. I hope to continue to write blogs here and paint rocks. So, I want to be able to stoop down and pick up a rock. I find most of my rocks around the down town area. Shaking hands will probably make typing and painting harder as time goes on. The hiding of my rocks makes me feel like I am encouraging someone.
3. I want to delay diabetes as much as I can. I am prediabetic and can’t imagine avoiding diabetes. But, I might be able delay it. Since I love chocolate, I am unsure if I can even delay it. So, this one is a battle with the two sides of my desire for yummy sweets and staying healthy.
4. I hope to retire from paid work when I turn seventy. Social security offers full benefits for my age group at sixty-seven years of age. But, the benefits will be better if I can stretch it to seventy. I am saving money but it is not a large nest egg.
5. I want to keep reading lots of books, magazines and online articles. I want to always be curious about the world. I have always loved learning new things. I want to be allowed to learn new things even in heaven. I don’t want to know all things in an instant which would take the aha moments away from me.
6. I want to go on more mission trips with my church. We stopped doing them due to the pandemic. I asked my pastor if we are going to resume doing yearly trips. We used to go to places in the US that have been devastated by terrible weather and help re-build homes (most of the time). Some of our members are skilled in home repair and can lead us in the work.
7. I want to continue working as a poll worker. The work is kind of boring but I can’t volunteer much in my community. I hope to increase my volunteering in my community and church after I retire.
8. I want to have a plant, cat, dog or some pet to live with me and keep me company. My cat died in February of this year. Then, I got a rash while cat sitting for my neighbor. So, I now wonder if I am allergic to cats. So, I will keep my mind open on how to do this one. I am starting to focus on my petunia. My friend has offered me some other plants too.
9. I want to attend Bible studies at my church more. I get a lot of my socializing needs from work. When I retire, I want to get my socializing needs mets through volunteering, walks, groups and Bible studies.
10. I have been thinking about traveling more. I have no sense of direction and little face recognition abilities. So, I am too nervous to travel alone. I have been thinking that group travel is probably better for me even if I can’t get away from the touristy spots. I am curious how people in other countries live.
What is you ten? I will share some of his suggestions in a later post.
