On Mortality and Aging

This less than pleasant topic is brought to you by: My birthday is in a week...

At what point do you transition from being a "young man" to being a "man"? It's a cultural question. Some peoples live much longer than others due to better healthcare, diets, exercise, etc. In Japan, the average life expectancy is 84 years, while in other countries it's decades shorter. Looking at "middle age" literally, it would be around 42 for Japanese folks, and...my age, for others.

I'll be 32 next week. I'm fine with this number, it feels identical to the way 31 feels. But 33? Oh no... That's much worse, somehow. At that point, I'll have gone from "I'm in my thirties, but just barely" to "I'm actually in my thirties".

What bothers me most is other people talking about that age as if it's old. Partially joking, but partially serious. I've had coworkers who called themselves old during their early thirties, complaining of back pain. I never would've known the thirties are when aging starts happening if he hadn't made those comments.

There's a very famous, very successful bodybuilder who goes by, CBum (pronounced: "see bum"). He's retired from the sport. At the frail, feeble, old age of 30, he focuses more on his business ventures now. And YouTube. I watched one of his videos recently where he made off-hand comments about his digestion being slower...his recovery from injuries not being as quick... At the age of 30, he's far from old. I don't think he should be making comments like that. But when your life revolves around a sport for which you're no longer at your peak, it would be hard not to feel like your life is over.

When I think of quantity of time remaining, I feel sick. If I'm an average American, I've got less than 50 years left, so I think I'll try my best to be Japanese instead. For my whole life, I've been a ship in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by endless water on in all directions. Now, I see a landmass on the horizon. Far away, yes, but it's visible, and inching closer. I no longer feel like I have all the time in the world.

When I think of quantity of stuff remaining, I feel better. I like knowing that even after reaching my peak in bodybuilding (which I haven't hit yet, I'm no CBum), I have endurance running to fall back on. I've been a long distance runner throughout my life, though, it has taken a major backseat in recent years. Endurance runners are still doing marathons and ultramarathons well into their 50's and 60's. And entrepreneurial abilities peak in the mid- or late-60's.

I like thinking about the stuff to come, rather than the dwindling time remaining.

As I write this from the treadmill in my basement, I think of my coworker who complained of aging when he was my age. I'm not old, you're old.

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