Don't rest until we rethink the idea of the "Rest Home".

I felt I had a brush today with death. I didn't almost get in accident or was robbed. Instead a friend a friend took me to look at speaking at an assisted living facility. Very beautiful surroundings. The interior was fashioned like a very upscale looking country club. I saw some active seniors getting ready to get on a bus. Others dressed up on their way to breakfast.

There was something in the air. I felt these folks resigned to a state they were going to leave the planet. I knew the place was not the right place to speak but my friend urged me to see it. He told me that the children of these folks would come to my talk. However I knew younger folks would not show up at this place. A number of research studies have shown that a majority of seniors like to be around folks of different ages and ethnicities. To be honest it felt like a " living funeral home. "

In three conversations the same comment came up " Well you should be prepared?" Meaning have all your ducks in a row for end of life.

Something about this place seemed like purgatory. The most important point I learned was not be paralyzed by your thoughts of dread. I take solace in the thought that so called retiring in a home is a place sorely waiting for new ideas. Those new ideas need to be and will be kinder, smarter and help older folks feel more productive. There can be no rest at the rest home.
Until the rest of us start thinking about what kind of setting would stimulate and help seniors make every moment of their life count.

You might live longer.....so what ?

New scientific breakthroughs in living longer are rushing to the headlines. And ??
More importantly what are you expecting by living longer ?

We certainly don't want to be dragging our leaden carcass around with aches and pains. EEccchhh.

Baby Bloomer. Age Astronauts. Rarefied Rad Dads. New definitions, new terms describing age barrier breaking are coming. What do you want to call yourself ?

You're in your 50's, 60's and the whole social machinery declares that you should be thinking about retirement. With a lot of us living longer? As well as in this economy ? Hmmm. What about the passion and hope to still continue to create. To explore. How about just totally ripping apart that handbook that is shoved at us about getting older.

At Barton Springs in Austin,Texas, an amazing spring fed, public swimming pool, with an average temp of 68 degrees you'll find these men in their 70's and 8o's diving in around 7:30 in the morning. I walked up to one of these guys in glorious physical shape.
He told me he was 77. I told him "I want to be you when I grow up." He said "I never grew up.", as he walked off to his motorcycle. We're not talking about Peter Pan characters here, we're talking about a rugged guys that choose to look at life as vital and as adventure.

What will you do now that your age could exceed your ancestors ?

Could you finally create that art work. Or learn how to cook that recipe.
Or be determined to find like minds to solve dilemma's that bring injustice in the world ?

Are we still young enough to do that ?
The average age of the team members that just won the new XPrize of 5 million for Edison 2 car that got over 102 miles per gallon. How about 55 years of age.

We can be inspired by the chance to live a little longer... But what do you do with it ?
Maybe take care of some mistakes and pieces of communication we never resolved? Those with old friends, family and our children. Taking time to share your life to help others?
I have heard you always keep learning to love. It's not life without it.

The lesson for me is that life is short. The greatest death defying act ? It's for you and I to look deeply into our hearts and souls and say "Enough is enough. When am I going to do that thing I always wanted to do ?" Then act on it. That's the real definition of living.

You don't want a bit of regret when you take your last breath. Do you ? So dive in with me. I'd love the company. Do it. Don't hold your breath. Let's take a deep one together and leap.

Finding your purpose.... On Purpose

94 Year old mother of a friend of mine recently chose to go to a retirement community. She told my friend, her son that she now recognizes "her purpose". It is to "Love and encourage people everyday. And help them to realize how important exercise is." She rides her stationery bike five times a week and walks everyday roughly about a mile. I have met this woman once and she stands about 4' 11. She had open heart surgery at 92. She started going to a rehab exercise prior to the retirement community. She encouraged everyone to use the workout room that was virtually empty to the point when she left people had to schedule to get into the crowded room. A powerhouse of woman that is now devoting herself to get her house mates off of walkers and into the exercise room. She recently noticed a man in his late 80's that she felt did not need a walker. She politely inquired to his children visiting one day "Your Dad doesn't need use a Walker." The man is now one of the many people she is encouraging to walk independently again.


I had a great chance to talk to my two surviving Uncles this last weekend. Uncle Sam is 92 and walks incredibly careful. But his sense of humor is recklessly fun. He said he was born in El Paso and then as baby walked with his family back to Houston. He said "I was a strong baby, I walked all the way."

My other Uncle, Uncle Babe is 86 and looks fantastic. He told me that retirement is deadening.
It's not hard to think, "Well I guess I should get ready to die." But he loves to swim and read.
And his sense of humor is wildly active and also subtle. He introduced his beautiful wife as
his caretaker. Almost all of my relatives in the room broke up laughing from his well known deadpan delivery. After which Uncle Babe drops his head to hide the biggest smile.

Sure we endure difficulties in our lives. But we also can choose to enjoy life.
It takes a conscious decision to believe we can find our purpose when we feel like we have lost it. Even when it seems like it is raining crap on your life. Your mind needs to be your umbrella.
You have to stay determined.
It's like working on a muscle in the gym. If we stay on it we can build it..."On Purpose".

I am finding plenty of older folks who choose to do just that.

Music. The calm in the eye of the hurricane.

Music created a ground beneath our feet and a place for us to find hope for our dreams. In the late 1960's and the early 1970's when the Vietnam War was tearing our country apart. When free speech was rising up, when institutions were being questioned. Music had the hand hold on the run away train. In the midst of it all the song "My generation", "We're not going to take it." And "Give Peace A Chance" answered all the riddles and confusion around us. The Who. John Lennon. Joni Mitchell. Crosby, Stills and Nash. The names go on and on. My best friend in the 9th grade, Mike Wagner and I used to sit in his room and listen to Morrison Hotel by the Doors. Just deeply pondering discussing what the lyrics meant. Friends used to come over and bring the latest record album they had bought at a record store called Hauschild's in my hometown. "My God you have to hear this..." Again while the world seemed to be spinning out of control we could find the balance in music from Woodstock. It took all the anxiety and spun out a song like Country Joe McDonald singing
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Where is that music today? Well maybe there's a need for some new protest music. Yet there are some incredible new voices. There is no lack for talent when you hear Ben Folds and Regina Spector singing "You don't know me." Or Bruce Springsteen's song of inciteful longing with "Radio Nowhere".

Look around there's an opening again for music to help us see what's beyond all this political noise drumming on TV. Go find a music store if you can and ask about the bands. There's some new stuff playing and sure a lot of its fluff. But there's some melodies by some new kids that will amaze you.
Like "Hello Bonjour" from Michael Franti, History of Lovers by Calexico, the orchestral theatrics of Dommin with "My heart, Your hands. An incredibly honest piece of world music by Vusi Mahlasela of "Heaven in my heart." So turn off the TV news. Get some music in your veins and you will see the world a lot clearer again. Music will take you to the calm and vanquish the hurricane. Think about feeling the thrill again. And don't stay in that nostalgic zone, stretch yourself and listen to something new. Turn your world like that old 33 1/3 , spin your world and fresh up your senses again.

Here's the high. Here's the high in the lows.

Appropriate for these times I remember from my fourth grade SRA reader book, the story of the two twin Piccard Brothers. Jean & Auguste Piccard. First Jean a brilliant balloonist broke all kinds of records and invented the first plastic balloon to carry passengers. Jean also believed so fervently that a balloon could carry men to Mars. Now his brother Auguste also created a breakthrough in ballooning with his sperical pressurized gondola that did not required a pressurized suit to ascend to highest of altitudes. Furthermore he broke undersea diving records with his special diving tank to carry aquanauts.

What does this have to do with these times ? Invention that's what. It's what America is all about. Make lemonade. Think about what immediate world needs. What's missing now?
Don't you feel there is a great vacuum in the way we live our lives right now? What a Wow it is to see great ideas come of age.The genius in the micro loans to women in India and other countries.
Silly fun things like YELP.com that tell where some great places are located. Or locally here in Austin, the amazing trailer food phenomenon . Even if something is counter to what you have always thought was right (legal of course), take on the challenge. It doesn't come from sitting around and saying what would make us money. It comes from "thinking around" of what you would like in your life or others lives. Then figure out if it could make money to sustain itself. Bonk. There it is. The simplest ideas are the best as most of us know. First you have to try and that can be pretty uncomfortable.

Recently Michael Kingsley wrote that the greatest generation endured the depression and World War II. And our greatest gift would be to figure out away to pay down the 14 trillion dollar debt. Here we are whining about these times? Hoping a political white knight will lead us to the golden altar of prosperity. Horsepucky. A charismatic loud mouth is not the answer. Instead be a Piccard.

Seize the time. Invent. There's highs in the lows. That's where the highs come from. To make a start send 25 cents in coin to my pay pal account and I will send it to the national treasury. No wait here's a greater challenge take 25 cents in coin and put it into jar in the closet and start building that new savings account or rebuilding it. Who knows it could catch steam and you could start putting in $1.00's and thousands. Hey, I'm just attempting to make a running start at what has always made us great. Pushing out into the uncomfortable and inventing. Again there's the high in the lows.

Get your "Magic On Earth Spectacles" Now ! Only five easy installments

Ladies and gentlemen step right up and get your "Magic on Earth Spectacles". Yes these wonderous, celestial gifted, eye goggles will take your breath to the highest altitude similar to peak of Kilimanjaro. Now I know everyone is asking... "How much do I write a check for ?
What will be on my credit card? Are there 5 easy installments ? " Well yes on the last one.

There are installments. You need to install into your life the possibility to believe. That's #1 installment. And what you want to give to the world that's Number #2. The #3 installment has to do with a constant check that you have your passion stirred up every so often, be authentic, be truthful and keep the fires of your "will and determination" burning. ( A little insight here is to think of something difficult you did in your life and how you came out better on the other side)
Not that you can't have the happy plan. But ladies and gentleman I am being way too verbose here. The #4 you have to start seeing. That means looking. Recognize what the world means to you and not to someone else. And #5 installment will come to you. Because it is all you. You have your own unique path. At some moment on your path all cyclinders of your installments will start smoking and tingle. In that synchronistic moment in sync the " Magic On Earth Spectacles" will appear on your face and you will just start seeing the world through them.

However if you would like to write me a check for One Quadrillion we can get there a lot quicker.

Today I had one of those "MOES" days as I call em'. A client reminded me how well I can communicate irony. And it was ironic that she had to remind me. It threw me on track. Stopped me dead in my tracks. Then I saw the irony. The funny. And bingo-rama I was wearing a pair
"MOES".

So right here and now. I am professing my experience getting my "MOES" on. As I get older I can see that the last quarter of life can be the most magnificent.

What happened to me today was that I caught a glimpse of something "big". Like seeing a bit of a giant ocean liner out of the corner of my eye. In that moment something chilled the hair on the back of my neck and I knew I was on track.

The next big part of the "Magic On Earth Spectacles" is being able to hand them out to others with no strings attached, no network marketing. Just hand them out without even thinking. But that calls for a few more installments I'll get into later. Yes ladies and gentleman the real secret is that "You have everything you need".

Pssst don't tell anybody but a big clue to getting your "MOES " is found in the lyric that Sheryl Crow sings "It's learning to love what you already have."

When I get older it's going to be way cooler

I spoke about this couple I met around 3 weeks ago. She is 83 and he is 91. And these aren't ordinary seniors. They are both active. He drives this little brand new SUV. And she drives a Subaru outback. They are planning their next cruise that will take them to a couple of islands in the Pacific. Here's the weird thing the conversation I had with them wasn't like speaking to two old folks that were resigned to staying in their rocking chairs. These guys were thinking about going places and still doing things. Now they are mindful that they can't walk that fast any more but they both a "willingness" to beat the typical age boundaries.

I am convinced that older folks are breaking the mold of what the little storybooks showed of the little old couple on the front porch. It's like my opinion of these Harley Davidson fanatics.
What ?
They are wearing these outfits and riding motorcycles. Hell yes there are. And now I am thinking more power to them. They love it. They love the freedom. They love the youthfulness they still hold on tight to. So I am no longer complaining about them. I am actually proud that they are attempting to break the age barrier.

Right now corporations, companies and so called thought leaders know that the age wave is rushing to shore. So why not make the last part of your life magnificent. Toyota is experimenting in building houses that are more ergonomic. I am sure that manufacturers like Nike, Apple, Rubbermaid or whomever are looking now at more serious ways to catch the eyes of older markets with universal design.

There is a redefinition of age streaming forward and it is thrilling to see it. All these new books on the shelves redefining the possibilities of the brain with its constant neuroplasticity and ability to change.

The biggest ticket to this show looks like it has to do with adopting the attitude. The willingness to believe. Yes it takes courage, to create better things for yourself. But it is becoming more of a reality that you can still achieve very cool things no matter hold old you are. For me getting older has gotten way cooler. See ya up ahead.

Balance.

The darwinists say balance is created by evolution. The creationists say it's their version of intelligent design. The atheists agree with the darwinists. And the third group who doesn't care for the stock answer and believes it is something more we have not yet discovered..well that is the camp where you'll find me sitting around the campfire. Yes intelligent design does not have to taken from the heralding fundamentalist or one that believes in random chance. Intelligent design is something still beyond our grasp. The most powerful force we dismiss is balance. Gravity. Oxygen.
The mystery of it all. So many people want that control piece for answers.

Letting go is the place where I find answers but I also misplace that idea from time to time. Only when trying to help other in difficult situations does it come to me. The balance of this country has so many enemies. And enemies are us, so much of the time. Those that rant and scream out fear. Interesting that when we remember to try to eat well, get some kind of exercise, work on what we love, and work at what we have to do. Balance appears. Then just as fast along comes distraction that interrupts our memory of how important it is to stay in the balance. So many have been making money on dividing our country. Real courage is when can we start to really study what unites us again. What makes us a great nation is the united parts of our diversity and not just one following. Political messages try to grab us. The news tries to addict us. So much noisy static. Focus to balance comes a lot of the time in the idea of being a regular person that cares about others, without an agenda.
If you look closely. Take a breath and find just a beautiful sight in your children's eyes, a sunrise, your lovers lips or maybe see the limbs in the trees sway from the invisible breeze. It is so powerfully stunning. Ask yourself to see the balance and see the gifts from it each day.

The way of death should expire

Went to my Uncle's funeral today. He was 94. Created some great things. But I realize the exit plan he created for himself is something of the past. Today it costs on average $7,000.00 for a funeral. The incredible burden of this cost on the living. The land mass we take up. And funerals ugh. It's like my mom said "See them before they die, avoid funerals."

There has to be a better way. For example if we have to have cemeteries my friend who is an architect, Steve Zagorski, came up with a beautiful pyramid tower type of tomb. It is composed of a series of levels that can be visited. In these levels are a series of blocks that either contain ashes or coffins. I know this sounds creepy. But his design was beautiful and functional. And the reason that all this sounds creepy is because the funeral industry is a dinosaur and currently creepy.

Today families are doing green burials, cremation and give your body to science for heaven's sake wait a minute for "life's sake" if it can help your fellow human do so. New ideas in this area need to be created. So you can honor someone's life yet not be killed twice. Once from the death and the other managing the cost of the death.

Thundering herds in plain sight awaiting new shepherds

The secret to the future will be those who can help Shepherd us through the vast information that is relevant to our lives. Those Shepherds that can guide us through the dirt clod of information, to help us find what we need and not the pseudo shepherd with the stink of political affiliation. Recently I have gone on a news band, and wow what a blast of clarity.

I used to think I was on top of it all taking in the New York Times, Rush Limbaugh, Daily Show, a pinch of FOX news and even a bit of CNBC. What I realized was the agenda I was absorbing. What unearthly crap. There is only one agenda they hold in common. Serving up a fresh plate of Daily Fear. There are these news outlets blasting out fear right and left. Like standing within inches of a eardrum busting speaker at a U.T. Longhorn football game.

A friend showed me the Christian Science Monitor. Hey not bad. But still if there is news you need to know I believe you are going to receive it. Heck, a friend will you know. I use to pride myself on the intellectual intake from immediate news and now I have realized the wisdom from people I have met that are on a news black out and still read literature. Still pick up knowledge on science, the arts and how learn how people are moving forward.

A thundering herd of sheep are awaiting new shepherds on the internet who are not so biased. Yes everyone has their agenda, however the weeding out process is great one on the open internet. And even if Comcast or others try to crush free speech by trying to filter out free internet people will find a way. The genie and new oxygen is out of the bottle. Take a break from the herd and be your own Shepherd for the day. Make a list of what you think is cool news and let me know.

See ya on the next hill. I heard there is good grazing up there.

Retiring the word "Seniors"

It is clear that Baby boomers are not going to stand for the old way of describing themselves. The word "baby boomer" and the word "senior" were created by a previous generation. The act of creating new terminology is revealing itself now. I have always peered out into the inky void of the future and felt that "when I get older things will be cooler".

In my 50's now I look at men and women who are in their 60's and beyond. Those individuals that defy description of their age.Physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually those older adults that defy the little story book picture of little old people.

If they have had a bit of plastic surgery without the physical smears of a rabid evangelist cosmetic surgeon or three cheers if they have not. It has been interesting to meet those individuals who know how to take care of their bodies through exercise, their minds through mediation and their bodies through steps like eating locally. Their ability to maintain the "curious" for their mental interests.

Most recently I met a 91 year old who worked on splitting the atom in the 1940's. You'd swear he was in his late 70's except from the limp he had from hip repair surgery. He had just drove up to his girlfriend's house, she's 83. And his girl friend seemed like a version of someone in their late 60's. The intellectual discussion that proceeded that evening with them and my girlfriend was like being in combination of a Ray Bradbury short story and new fangled Norman Rockwell painting. Mind bending. Not your typical boring get together chats. Wow. I said to them "I want to be like you when I grow up." Their reply was "We never grew up".

There's hope out there if you choose to take it. There's a strong future out there if you choose to see it. Yes, the word "Senior" sounds like a package ready for its expiration date. No there's a better word and I am on the hunt for it.