Don't let the old man in
There are many ways a story could go with the title, Don't let the old man in.
In this article, I'm talking about not letting the idea of being old enter your mind.
I turned 80 today Jan. 29th, but I don't feel old. In about three weeks, I'm going to crank up my 34-foot Class A motorhome, hook my car behind it, put the rig and car on a ferry, and cross over to the mainland from Galveston Island, TX.
Here's a picture of my RV and car on the ferry as I came to the island three months ago. It was a tight squeeze getting on the ferry, but I made it.
After the three-mile ferry ride, I'll drive to Knoxville, TN, put the motorhome in storage, catch a flight to Costa Rica, and stay there for four months before I fly back, get my RV out of storage, and drive up the mountain to camp in the cool NC mountains for the summer and fall.
Some of my friends tell me that I shouldn't be doing all of this at my age. I have a relative who drove his RV until he was well past 90 years old.
I have a friend who stopped driving her car when she was 60 because she said she was too old to drive. Many people tell themselves they're old and can't do certain things.
Watch the 3-minute music video at the link below, and I think you'll agree with the words in the song and say that a lot of people do "let the old man in." (Those words will make sense after you watch the video.)
In this music video, Toby Keith and Clint Eastwood do an excellent job of describing how to deal with getting old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc5AWImplfE
Regardless of how old you are, I think it will be well worth three minutes of your time to watch this video. It could change the way you feel about getting old.
Toby Keith wrote and sang this song. Toby said he was inspired to write this song by following the life of Clint Eastwood.
Clint Eastwood is featured in this 3-minute music video. Clint is 91 years old, and he's still acting, directing, and producing movies.
I particularly like this verse in the song. "Ask yourself how old you would be if you didn't know the day you were born."
This song describes how to keep from getting old by not letting the old version of yourself get into your head. When you look at Clint Eastwood's life, it's apparent that he didn't let the old man in.
Three things I did to keep the old man from coming in
#1. I ran a marathon after I turned 60. I achieved my goal of coming across the finish line vertically and not horizontally on a stretcher, but I didn't break any speed records.
#2. I lost 35 pounds this past year. I wanted to lose 35 pounds before I turned 80, and I did. Now my goal is to keep it off.
#3. I wrote 20 books after turning 70. You can see 16 of them about RVing shown on the right side of this article.
When my mother was 93, she said she didn't feel old. Now, I know what she meant. At 80, I don't feel old.
Below is a picture of my mother after hiking to a waterfall in the NC mountains when she was 93.
Bottom line: I didn't realize it until I listened to this song and watched the video, but I think I've been following the technique described in the song for a long time now.
Maybe I can still be going strong into my 90s, like my mother and Clint Eastwood.
If you want to know more about this subject, below is a link to an article I wrote two years ago on this same topic.
https://www.liferv.com/public/Life-is-Short-and-so-is-Money-4.cfm