Aging Gracefully Together
Recently I sat down and interviewed a gentleman wanting to train at one of our Core Fit Wellness studios. His name is Al and I learned that he is 89 years old although he didn’t look a day past 72. He shared with me that he didn’t take medications, ate well and loved to exercise and stay active. In fact he despises sitting around the house and waiting for things to happen. “You gotta go and make things happen,” he said.
As we talked for about an hour his mind remained sharp, he was witty and he taught me a whole heck of a lot about life.
He’s been married to his wife for over 68 years! Me, being happily married and wanting to keep it that way asked, “What’s the secret?” to which he replied, “Agree to everything and do what you want to anyway–you gotta compromise and be happy at the same time.”
When I asked him how he managed to remain so independent he said that he never sits still. In fact, he still works at a local Summerlin hotel owned by his granddaughter, Lori and grand son-in-law, Jeff (The Element Hotel -http://tinyurl.com/cj2e6l). He calls himself the “sidewalk superintendant”. Says he doesn’t have any particular qualifications for the position, but has good commonsense and knows when something looks out of place.
He notes that in addition to his duties at the hotel, he’ll take timeout during the day to hit the hotel’s weight room and outdoor swimming pool. He says he never misses a day. When he gets back to work he never takes the elevator and instead opts to take the stairs.
Al is a shining example of what we all can be with the right mindset and the right attitude. It’s often said, that if you don’t use it, you lose it. Well, Al, hasn’t lost a thing and doesn’t look he’s about to either. In fact he’s in better shape than many 40 year olds I’ve seen.
I’ll look forward to training Al, a modern-day sage, and getting more insight from a man who when asked, what’s the secret to longevity says, “You gotta stay active–keep moving–and you gotta stay ahead [plan your life or someone else will do it for ya]!”
Thanks, Al, for enriching my life. I’ll never forget our enlightening conversation.
