In a prior life, back in my youth, high-school and college days I was a competitive runner, eventually brushing up against World Class status, but just not the Olympic material I'd hoped for. I was discussing my quest and training to run my 4-minute mile with an acquaintance the other day, it's a topic I don't often reflect on because I always fancied myself an Olympic runner, and because today, I miss the abilities I once had.
Glory days are fun to talk about for a brief time, but they quickly become depressing to dwell on, at least that's the way I see it - I mean you can't go back, other than in your own mind.
Oh sure, I still consider all those years of winning and hardware a lifetime achievement, but it's a personal thing, it part of my character make-up, history, and still part of the way I think - as an athlete - winning, victory, and never give up. My acquaintance whose also achieved, having competed in the Iron Man Triathlon noted;
"Personally I am always impressed with someone not only willing to get their body into the shape to accomplish this type of otherworldly athletic feat, but then even more impressed by the mind over body control to push to continue striding hard even when your entire body, heart, and soul are telling you to slow down."
"Yes, me too," I told him, "It hurts, but you do it anyway. It sometimes seems not like a race, well the first couple of laps, but a test to who can take the most pain and still keep going. I guess, this is why I respect US Navy Seals, mountain climbers, extreme sports people, Triathletes, etc."
Still, thinking back now, I remember is all the pain, all those workouts, all that training, beating my body into submission, but I also remember the agility, the power, the strength I once had. I think we need a way for humans to run and physically perform at optimum during their entire life time, not just when they are young in their 20s or 30s.
We need to stop this problem and ditch old age, it is insidious, having to grow old is pure evil. Not that I believe in that sort of thing, but I'd say if evil is, that's it. Think of all the cognitive losses of old people, that's horrible, all that experience, wisdom, knowledge, all lost. That sucks. That's not right, we need to fix that. If we could retard the aging process with modern medicine, I believe we'd have more wisdom amongst our population, making fewer mistakes, voting smarter, and making better decisions. That would be one of the biggest gifts to humankind. Let's cure old age.
Whereas some people die prematurely due to accidents, illness or other tragedies, no one gets out alive - old age is the real killer, so we ought to solve that one first. Everything else is secondary, please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance. Currently, Mr. Winslow is working on a non-fiction eBook about the Future of Human Sports.
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