I have probably lived more than half my life and I felt that my time was running out, but…
When I look back at the last 50 years I think its fair to say that I did not achieve much in the first 20 years of my life. Yes – I did snog a few pretty girls from the local private school and yes, I am proud I went to university and got a couple of degrees but it was probably always going to pan out that way and I probably never really questioned the path I was on – I just went with it.
Its only the last 30 years and really probably the last 20 where I have done things that I am truly proud of. Things that tested and challenged me, things I struggled for and things that I entirely chose for myself. Now a 50 year old living in Switzerland has an life expectancy of 84.5 years and so this means I have my life all over again, and some, to move on to greater challenges.
Now what cheers me even more is that my father-in-law tells me he did not really start slowing down until he reached his 80s. I also read a study on runners which shows that running speeds decline with age but only by 1% a year and linearly until the age of 80 when the rate of decline accelerates. Note that you can still be pretty nippy in your 80s, the oldest Ironman Kona finished in 2018 was 85 – he also won his category!
So this means I need to make sure I can run as fast as I possibly can now and that I have 30 years to do cool stuff with the experience, knowledge, mindset, etc which I certainly did not have 30 years ago. So this makes me feel pretty good!
Furthermore, many studies reveal that happiness is u-shaped, you are happiest in your youth and old age, with the deepest slump in happiness between 47 and 52. So if right now I am feeling as “miserable” as I am ever likely to get then I cannot wait to get older because “miserable” is feeling pretty damned good!
Having said all that 30 years is still very little time so there is not a moment to waste – I’m going to jump on my bike…
Expeditions 