Last week my 97-year-old Grandfather had a brain bleed and I’ve spent the last few days visiting him in hospital.
When it first happened, we all thought that was it for him as he’s very frail (and it may still be), but somehow he’s still alive and improving slowly.
And while it’s great he’s recovering, it’s unlikely he’ll ever walk again and it’s sad to see a once very healthy person almost completely bedridden with low quality of life.
Now I’m not sure why I’m writing this, but I feel compelled as the experience of watching someone you love slowly fade away is making me think about my own mortality, especially after losing my other Grandpa suddenly last year.
I’m super grateful both my Grandpa’s made it to their 90s, something I want to do, and a big reason they did was that they both lived active lifestyles and did great jobs of looking after their health.
Even though Grandpa’s body and brain are fading, his heart and lungs are in terrific shape, and I think that’s due to his love of bushwalking and the outdoors. And while he still loves biscuits and cake, he always ate that stuff in moderation and never drank or smoked.
A bit late for me with those last two, and I guess what has me down is that no matter how healthy his lifestyle was, he’s still nearly at the end, which tells me I just need to accept that one day I’ll reach the end too, and should enjoy myself while looking after my health to lengthen the time I have.
I want to live a long AND fulfilling life, but finding a balance between having fun and looking after yourself can be hard to find, especially as a lot of enjoyable things in life aren’t great for a life expectancy.
I think looking after your health is like planting a tree, in the sense that the best time to start doing it was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. And even though I planted my tree a few years ago, I’m gonna start watering and naturing it a little bit more.
We’ve never lived in a better age to turn our lives around and consider what we need to do to live a longer life.
Years ago I heard it rephrased by the great Matt Legge from “live for a long time” to “live for a long time in good health”. That has stuck with me ever since.
For me, as I age, I want to live a long life in good health not so much for myself, but for the people around me I can help.
Firstly great job with the write up and congrats with the Alfred presentation. I heard people were in stitches at the end!
Life can be so cruel and short for many. We don't know when our last breathe is coming.......no one knows.
Purpose, Passion and Presence - What can you do to be the best version of yourself and make a difference for others?
Have a awesome day my good friend.