Today, I’d like to talk about one of the great secrets of life, and that is age. Age. As you get older, it actually gets better in so many ways.
So this week, in one of my classes, we went over Chapter 4 in my book Grandfather is Dead. The chapter is about heart. What does heart mean?
Now, if you think to yourself, old people look kind of strange, don’t they? And they’re totally different than I am. But I’d like to tell you a story.
Heart. I was, I think, 13 or 14 years old, and I was kind of a ugly kid. That’s how I saw myself, and I was in grade maybe 8, and this new girl came to school.
And we hit it off, you know, we got along really well. So I thought to myself, well, obviously, the next phase to this I’d heard at least, because we were pretty sheltered children, there were no cell phones, no pornography, etc., etc.
Going to church on Sunday, the priest, fire and brimstone, hell was in front of you, all of that, right? So the next phase is to ask this girl, will you be my girlfriend? Whatever that meant.
I really had no idea, but you know, some of the older boys had said some things and that, oh, seems to be that way. Friend, then girlfriend, then probably good girlfriend, then fiance, then wife. There seemed to be a natural progression, right?
So I stayed awake. Basically, all night, how was I going to phrase this very serious question? And I went to school and I ran up to her, and I think her name was Jane or something.
I ran up to her and I said, Jane, Jane, can I ask you a question? And she said to me, Leon, absolutely sure, but just a moment. I want to tell you something.
I said, what Jane, anything. And she said, I met a boy. And I’m waiting for, and his name is Leon.
But it didn’t come. It didn’t come. She said, and his name is Bob.
Now, with great respect to all the Bobs in the world, I still have a visceral feeling when I’m introduced to a Bob. I’m pulled back 55 years or so to that moment with that girl.
So, obviously, when it comes to heart, emotion, that is, we live a long and interesting life.
But we’re told, of course, that we essentially have a predetermined path in life in the modern era, and in any era, really, but reinforced because of the internet now. We live in the age of comparison, and we know our path.
The path is to study, then graduate from high school, hopefully a good high school. Then we’re off to university. And after university, we’re going to get a job, and we’re going to excel in that career, whatever it is.
Now, there are exceptions, of course. We might be a doctor or a lawyer or a candlestick maker, something more specialized, if you will.
But for the most part, with any form of liberal arts degree, whatever that is, we get some form of job, and we try to excel in our career. And at some point, at some point, we are going to stop this work.
And I hear this from my students when I retire. So obviously, that’s kind of an international ethos all over the world. At some point, this work is going to stop.
And then, of course, being the curious sort of chop, I ask, and then what? And you get the retort, what do you mean? And then I’ll have time.
To do what? Well, to travel. I’ll travel.
To where? Well, I’m going to go all over the world, and you’re going to get a pack sack and do what I did last summer.
You’re going to walk across Spain for 45 days or something, sleep in these little hostels, clean for the most part, but pretty humble. Is that what you’re going to do?
No, no, no, gosh, no, I’m going to go to France, and I’m going to spend a month, really. Where in France? Where in Paris?
Where in Lyon? Where? You see?
So obviously, we haven’t thought this thing out called life at all, at all. So age is something that is excellent for sure, but it’s a journey and there needs to be some basic idea along the way for sure. Why am I here?
What’s my mission? In other words, my journey. What is it?
And what happens when I leave here? Where do I go? Right?
But I think the biggest focus of all has got to be my mission. So, as I age physically, I will start to realize that the mind seemingly is gaining more knowledge. Now, I’ve been truly blessed.
Everyone has their own medical crises some point in life. I’ve had mine, but I’ve recovered, and I’m probably healthier today than I’ve ever been. Now, the muscles are, of course, not as strong as they were 30, but they’re there.
I attend the gym, all those things. And I think I’m pretty much the same as anyone, but one caveat I do follow is I will never retire. Never.
I’ve changed my job, for sure, but I will never stop doing what I’m doing, because I finally found, maybe 20 or 30 years ago, what I really love. And I think that’s also an essential part of each. But who’s my teacher?
Myself. Who’s my student? Myself.
I say these aphorisms all the time, basically, don’t I? But they are true. They are true, because they’re knowledge-based, and they’re not original.
They’ve been with human history forever. But my inner self is private, truly. And I have to sort out the mess called my inner self.
I have to really identify who I am, what I want, and where I’m going. And if I can do those things. What I said earlier is true, that getting older is great, age is great.
It’s a secret. You probably will have enough money to live. You will have enough knowledge to know that you know nothing, and you need to keep learning.
And you will see life as a precious gift, not to be tossed away on useless things at all. And you do try to cherish each and every day. And it’s a remarkable thing.
Once again with my students, I tried to say to them, do you have a notebook? Most people don’t own a notebook, so I give them one. And of course, Ralph Waldo Emerson, he says, all I have to do is write the day and the date to catch time.
That’s all I have to do is just write it down. And this is not a diary. This is not a journal.
This is a book of my thoughts, a notebook of my thoughts that are spontaneously created by me beyond AI., which is the wonderful thing.
And I think the reason for the notebook and writing it down is because there is some magic associated between the action of writing and the actual paper.
And you think to yourself, when you do a task, clean the house, build something in your shop, clean your car, whatever it is, this physical action is somehow redeeming to the human spirit, and I think it’s a necessity.
So think of your heart, and at 14 years old, I had a broken heart, which has happened, of course, to all of us, probably many times. But I knew in that breaking of my heart that something good and better would come, and it did, ultimately.
I eventually fell in love with myself, and I don’t mean that in a vain pompous, so I love myself, none of that. I came to love my human spirit, that God, Gaia, or the universe has given me. Just no one like me.
Never has been, never will be, but I must age with some form of wisdom. Because what’s my job? My job as a human being, I believe, is to take in and ultimately to give back.
If my life is just to make a lot of money. One of my students the other day was saying they had a conference and they were deciding how much money they’re going to leave to their children and grandchildren. Insane, in my estimation.
Because what will be the motivation to those children to have to accomplish something in life? And I, yes, I think we should leave our children some money. Sure, why not?
But not enough that they’re blinded by their task for sure. Because no matter how you slice it, this gift of life is given to me just once in this reality. And I’ve got to make the absolute most of this.
And I have to be self-motivating and really grasp hold of my heart. And then I will love how I age. So never retire and keep your teeth.
Look after your dental health, because the mouth is the only vector of poison. So people that do those two things, they don’t have to be beautiful, but healthy, that’s important.
Never retire, keep your teeth, and you will live a long, long, long and flourishing life. So you know what they say, you know what they say. Critical thinking is everything, especially as you age.
And critical thinking is great, truly great. You take care. God bless.
Bye bye.