I was in my teens when the mantra was “don’t trust anyone over 30”. Y2K was going to crash the internet but it didn’t. Singing about “when I’m 64” was hilarious until it was comforting. All those wise sages who said pay into retirement in your 20’s were actually right. I guess I am officially old. But, I don’t feel “old” How old is old?
Perhaps, I’m not asking the right question. Is it that you get old, or is it that you stop growing? Do you get fixed in your mindset? Do you lose interest in the world around you? Do you do a lot more talking than listening? What if you went to the world instead of expecting the world to come to you?
Once a month I work from our condo in Mammoth and while there this week I took a day off to go to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest outside of Big Pine. It is no secret that these are the oldest living trees in the world. The secret is which one is the oldest – Methuselah – almost 5000 years old. The US Forest Service maintains the trails and has a really nice visitor center there. You may be able to guess that the reason they don’t mark Methuselah is to protect it from harm. We tried to guess but it really was just a guess.
These trees were alive before the Pharoahs in Egypt. They live in really unfavorable conditions and surprise new ones are just starting up. Somehow, that is really encouraging. One of their trick to survival is the roots only support the branches directly above them. So the tree can have really gnarly dead looking trunks and branches sticking out that are rather spindly, but still growing. For those used to the massiveness of the Sequoias that interlock underground to feed each other and their massive size, this is a completely different survival strategy.
And, maybe that is the point on adding to the years. Staying curious and finding those activities that engage your mind, and your heart no matter how young/old you are. If you keep moving while you do it, methinks you have found the trifecta of how to live a long happy life.
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