I think as we get older our mental image of ourselves tend to fade with age because of what we used to look like . The good thing about it is that we are only as old as we feel and I truly believe that. Try not to get caught up with your age and just take care of your mental toughness and your body the best way you know how. You can help your self age gracefully just by keeping the stress to a minimum. Consider yourself as Aging to Perfection rather than reflecting back to Fading looks . If that makes any sense.

Enjoy Life my friend,

Robbie

You are blessed with many people around you who care. I’m not going to attempt to give you a lengthy analysis, mostly because others have said it better than I can.

We have known each other for many years, and share many traits (including the “overachiever” stuff).

My advice is this. Learn from what Max is teaching us.

Live and do what makes you happy.

Your friend,
Jim

Those salad days of your youth are behind you so put those old photos back where they belong and stop wishing/hoping you can be that person again. Your knees, abs, lungs, heart, and hair will never ever look or function in the same way they did a half a lifetime ago. It was fun while it lasted, but it didn’t last (BTW, it doesn’t for any of us). Reset your brain and your life goals to the present and beyond. Right now you go walking for fitness, hunting for trophies, and working for a paycheck. Imagine how much more satisfying your life could be if you went walking for a fleeting glimpse of the dolphins surfacing in the bay, hunting for the chill up your spine when a barred owl calls from a tree directly overhead, or working in a career that makes you smile at the end of a long, hard day. In all of those examples you can still get where you want to go, but you’ll enjoy the trip so much more.

Be less critical of yourself. You’ve had a lifetime of being a successful over-achiever. That’s a hard mindset from which to throttle back, but imagine how many more goals you can achieve if they’re realistic ones from the start rather than trying to replicate successes of the past. It’s OK to get an A minus every now and then.

And finally, learn to trust yourself. As a center fielder you instinctively turned and ran toward a fly ball before you ever heard the crack of the bat. As a stock broker you followed both your gut and experience to make split second trading decisions. So, what’s my point? (smile) My point is that sometimes you need to put away all the pie chart analysis, the focus group discussions, the election day exit polls, and the blog questionnaires (yeah, I mean this one) and just DO what needs to be done. Sorry to be so Zen, but very often the answer lies within you, Grasshoppah. Please indulge a few one-liners. “Opinions are like assholes – everyone has one and most of them stink!” Go with your gut, make a decision and then execute that decision. Less talk, more walk. In the words of an unnamed very tall mutual friend who lives on a trout infested farm in southwest Wisconsin, “When all is said and done… more is said… than done.” It’s in your power to choose which side of that equation applies to you.

It’s alright to occasionally reminisce about who you were but don’t forget to celebrate who you are. Look forward to things. It’s good to ask questions and seek knowledge, but there comes a time to put that knowledge into action. Believe and know that you are better positioned to make good choices about your life than anyone else from whom you ask advice. And hey, if you end up making really bad choices anyway, the rest of us can always order a few pizzas and invite you over for an intervention.

As several people have already pointed out, the MIND is the most important part! You can swim, run, jump, climb, dodge, and bicycle till your body falls apart at the seams, but if your mind isn’t in the right spot, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.

Yes, an active and healthy lifestyle is part of the equation, but if you don’t first CONSISTENTLY and PASSIONATELY see yourself living the life that you want to be living, then, well, you’ll never see it.

Dig?

- Aaron