My decision was driven by the results from an online longevity calculator and input from a tiny angel on my right shoulder.
I entered my height, weight, age and drinking habits into the calculator. And that I had smoked during a mis-spent few years in my youth, but quit half a century ago.
There were a few medical history and lifestyle questions. Like how many times a week I eat fruit and vegetables. I beat back the urge to count pork as a vegetable and answered truthfully, as far as you know.
The answer: I have a good shot of living to 88. That would put me a little past my dad and Grandma Solomon, but dang. I’d really like to keep going longer than that. I have a lot of things I like to do and you only get one shot to do them.
No do-overs. A bit of analysis showed that one of the things holding me back from extra years is exercise. As in: I don’t do enough of it.
This is a development over the last 20 years. I used to walk a lot and was a runner for many years, but got out of the habit of both sometime after Y2K. And I have the pounds to prove it.
Those days as a runner were good ones. I used to run six miles a day six days a week and it was the best I have felt in my whole life. Healthy and upbeat and I could eat almost anything I wanted and know I would burn it off the next day. I have often wished I could feel that good again.
And then I thought: “Hey. You should start to run again.”
Hmm. That’s an interesting idea. I could lose some weight,maybedropmybloodpressureandblood sugar and tack a few years onto my longevity.
At least that’s what the little white angel on my left shoulder said.
Then the little red devil on my right shoulder chimed in, much louder.
“Get a grip,” he said. “You’re almost 72. People your age are supposed to sit in a recliner and watch Jerry Springer on tv.
“When was the last time you ran anywhere? Twenty years?
“Fuggetaboudit.” It was then that I realized that the little devil was a Yankee and, as such, not to be trusted.
I also realized that the little angel was talking into my left ear, which has substantial hearing loss, making her harder to hear.
So I switched them, going with a devil on the left, angel on the right alignment.
“You can do this,” the angel said, much more clearly. “Just start slowly and work up to it.
“Remember when you first started running, back in the 1990s? You can do it again in the 2020s.”
And so that’s what I’m going to do. Thanks, angel.