The morning I turned 42, I walked through the front door saturated from a Men’s Health dumbbell workout and was greeted by my 4-year-old in the hallway with adorable birthday wishes.
Great, insightful post! My 42nd birthday also hit me harder than others. It feels so much more unceremonious than 40. At this point, the amount of time I dedicate to maintaining fitness is absurd, only to maintain comparable fitness to where I was without effort and while eating garbage in my late twenties.
My dad is 78 and recently got diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's. Unbelievably, the time between when we graduated high school and when I'll be his age is approximately the same. And genetic testing revealed I inherited one of the risk alleles, so I have to be diligent about lifestyle optimization. How does it go by so quickly? And worse, why is it so hard to savor the present?
I think it'll be a long time before I go back to Disneyland though. Absolute hell!!
Thanks old partner! Yeah I'm nodding my head. Hurt my Achilles for the first time in February, and it's been a long recovery. Been eating perfectly and exercising for the last week, and I feel like the only difference is I'm weaker. Great to hear though you're of the same mindset -- now's the time to be put in the effort rather than waiting for the inevitable challenges.
I am terribly sorry to hear about your dad. That has got to be the worst disease. I always see headlines about potential breakthroughs in research. Hopefully in our post-Plano Senior High second half, treatment will look a lot different. AI could really earn its keep there.
Haha I was looking around Disneyland, and I didn't feel like anybody was having that great of a time. Social norm/pressure.
Yeah, all that time invested in health will surely increase our remaining quality of life! That's what it's all about. Just like setting aside money for retirement. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! But damn, it is NOT easy! Went for an 8 mile run this morning in 70% humidity. Brutal.
I appreciate the kind words about my dad! The primary emotion I have is disbelief. It's surreal hearing what new thing he's gotten mixed up about or who he's forgotten each day. I do think the medical landscape will change dramatically within the next 15-20 years so Alzheimer's will be a fairly manageable chronic illness with a much slower decline.
The last two times my wife and I visited a theme park, it was hard to see it as anything but ruthless exploitation of the working class. The vast majority of guests were priced out of theme parks years ago, but they keep going anyway and charging the food, merch, fast passes, airfare, and hotel for an entire family.
But also it was just insanely crowded and a high friction experience! I refused to pay for Lightning Lane out of principle, and to say our experience suffered as a result would be an understatement haha.
Again I was thinking the same thing with the retirement investing analogy -- power of a longer time horizon and compounding benefits, short-term cost for larger returns, consistent small actions. Then again, I often think the combination of genetics and luck will run the show and we're just grinding away at the margins. Better than just sitting there though.
All the best to your family, that's so intense. Don't forget to take care of yourself too.
It actually wasn't too crowded on the day we went, and I think Disney does a great job running things. I just find it dreadfully boring, and the kids don't even know the old-school characters or enjoy the rides that much relative to standing in line.
Great, insightful post! My 42nd birthday also hit me harder than others. It feels so much more unceremonious than 40. At this point, the amount of time I dedicate to maintaining fitness is absurd, only to maintain comparable fitness to where I was without effort and while eating garbage in my late twenties.
My dad is 78 and recently got diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's. Unbelievably, the time between when we graduated high school and when I'll be his age is approximately the same. And genetic testing revealed I inherited one of the risk alleles, so I have to be diligent about lifestyle optimization. How does it go by so quickly? And worse, why is it so hard to savor the present?
I think it'll be a long time before I go back to Disneyland though. Absolute hell!!
Thanks old partner! Yeah I'm nodding my head. Hurt my Achilles for the first time in February, and it's been a long recovery. Been eating perfectly and exercising for the last week, and I feel like the only difference is I'm weaker. Great to hear though you're of the same mindset -- now's the time to be put in the effort rather than waiting for the inevitable challenges.
I am terribly sorry to hear about your dad. That has got to be the worst disease. I always see headlines about potential breakthroughs in research. Hopefully in our post-Plano Senior High second half, treatment will look a lot different. AI could really earn its keep there.
Haha I was looking around Disneyland, and I didn't feel like anybody was having that great of a time. Social norm/pressure.
Yeah, all that time invested in health will surely increase our remaining quality of life! That's what it's all about. Just like setting aside money for retirement. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! But damn, it is NOT easy! Went for an 8 mile run this morning in 70% humidity. Brutal.
I appreciate the kind words about my dad! The primary emotion I have is disbelief. It's surreal hearing what new thing he's gotten mixed up about or who he's forgotten each day. I do think the medical landscape will change dramatically within the next 15-20 years so Alzheimer's will be a fairly manageable chronic illness with a much slower decline.
The last two times my wife and I visited a theme park, it was hard to see it as anything but ruthless exploitation of the working class. The vast majority of guests were priced out of theme parks years ago, but they keep going anyway and charging the food, merch, fast passes, airfare, and hotel for an entire family.
But also it was just insanely crowded and a high friction experience! I refused to pay for Lightning Lane out of principle, and to say our experience suffered as a result would be an understatement haha.
Again I was thinking the same thing with the retirement investing analogy -- power of a longer time horizon and compounding benefits, short-term cost for larger returns, consistent small actions. Then again, I often think the combination of genetics and luck will run the show and we're just grinding away at the margins. Better than just sitting there though.
All the best to your family, that's so intense. Don't forget to take care of yourself too.
It actually wasn't too crowded on the day we went, and I think Disney does a great job running things. I just find it dreadfully boring, and the kids don't even know the old-school characters or enjoy the rides that much relative to standing in line.
Hope you had a great B-Day!
Thanks HYFN-ator, safe adventures out there!