Originally Posted by
WNCGoater
Like LDL numbers docs love to tout, the 10,000 steps per day fitness goal, or 6' social distancing, "OLD" is just an arbitrary number in some people's minds, with little actual science behind it. When you're 20 people 40 are old. When you're 40, people 60-65 are old, when you're 65...you get the idea. I figure life is like a football game, barring some catastrophe you get 4 quarters (1-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80) and if you're lucky, you get to go into overtime(80+). As most of us know by now, to get old-er you have to be tough. The trick is, just don't let the old man in. Old is a state of mind. Barring illness or disease, old sets in when you decide you're too old to ______. You adjust, adapt, change, to embrace where you are in life's pathway, but you never quit. In the words of Nike, "Just Do It".
Ah, but it's a (slowly) moving target. As recently as 1970, life expectancy in the US was 70 years. And 100 years ago it was less than 60.