You Only Live Once

Act Like It!

He was retiring to focus on his health and have more fun.

In January 1991 my stepfather informed his United Steelworkers of America (USW) business agent they would need to find a new union leader at Bliss & Laughlin Steel in Harvey, IL. After decades of employment at the steel mill and being a leader of the union, he was retiring on December 1st, his 60th birthday.

A few days before Father’s Day he sat in the cab of an overhead crane lowering tons of steel bars onto flatbed trailers when he slumped over. It was complicated because he had to be rescued from the crane’s cab that ran along a track at the ceiling of the steel mill. They didn’t know it at the time, my stepfather suffered a cerebral hemorrhage or brain bleed. He would never recover.

Like many of us, he had plans. He wanted to take a road trip to visit his sisters in California with stops in Arizona and Las Vegas. He planned to work more diligently with his doctor to lower his blood pressure. His medications caused side effects although his blood pressure readings remained elevated. Less than six months before pursuing those dreams, he was gone.

Most of us won’t die dramatically or instantaneously. In 2023 the leading causes of death were heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, and stroke. COVID-19 dropped from fourth position in 2022 to tenth position in 2023. No matter what the cause, the result is the same. We leave this life with unrealized plans and dreams.

No Thanks for surfing! I’ll read a book- photo by Marcus Dall Col on Unsplash

If I sound like a spontaneous impulsive thrill-seeker, you couldn’t be more mistaken. I’m a planner, selective in my pursuits, and somewhat risk-averse. Although many of the adventures on my bucket list have been checked. Yes, I swam with dolphins in Kona, visited 10 of the 63 National Parks, went parasailing in Cancun, belly-danced in Morocco (I had less belly back then), and learned a Shikhat dance. I ended my pursuit of visiting all 50 states, stopping at 46. I’m okay skipping Montana, Idaho, and the Dakotas to revisit my favorites.

Is travel on your bucket list? According to a new study from Edith Cowan University (Australia), traveling offsets the inevitable decline of aging. According to Fangli Hu, the study’s lead author, “Tourism isn’t just about leisure and recreation. It could also contribute to people’s physical and mental health.”

The study highlighted meeting people, having new life experiences, potentially sleeping better, and taking part in relaxing activities may help defy premature aging. So go somewhere fun! It doesn’t have to be expensive or far. I love doing touristy activities in downtown Indianapolis, my hometown.

Maybe your interest is learning something new. You may want to learn a new language. There are benefits to becoming bilingual. According to Professor Catherine Snow at Harvard who studies the benefits of learning a foreign language at an older age; learning a second language creates new neural pathways. Other scientists have found that people who can speak more than one language tend to develop dementia up to five years later than monolingual people.

Whatever it is you want to do, whether it is spending time with friends, volunteering, learning to cook a new cuisine, changing jobs, listening to a new book, improving your fitness, or starting a new hobby—do it!

Time and tide wait for no man— Geoffrey Chaucer, 1395

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