Tests and Challenges

Next Thursday is the twentieth anniversary of the greatest physical challenge of my life. On October 7 it will be twenty years since I ran the Steamtown Marathon. Starting in April, being able to run six miles, and training all summer long, to eventually run 26.2 miles was certainly a challenge. A challenge met. Slowly, very slowly, but still met.

Thinking about that got me considering other challenges in life. When I talk with clients about aging, I often advise we have to stay active physically and mentally to have a longer enjoyable life. A third part of our aging lives is the emotional challenges we face constantly.

The greatest emotional challenge of my life was, of course, watching my daughter slowly die over the course of eleven months in 1988-1989. Sure, I have had romantic breakups and career changes and other family deaths. But emotionally, nothing can top the loss of a child. In a way, that compared to the marathon. You start out full of optimism. You do everything you are told by the experts. Halfway through you begin to have doubts. As you near the end, you think you will never make it to the finish. And finally, relief that it is all over. Then you spend the rest of your life thinking about the experience.

The greatest mental challenge would be any freaking math class I took since 7th grade. In 7th grade, with Mr. Yehl, we learned all about Base 5 number systems and I have been lost ever since. Algebra. Forget it. Y = who cares! Geometry. Forget it. Sines, cosines, tangents. Tangent is right. As soon as Mrs. Smith started talking about geometric shapes, my mind would go on a tangent, mostly likely thinking about girls! Trigonometry. Forget it. My thanks will always go out to those future engineers in my classes who helped me get by.

So what is the next challenge, the next test? Here it is. Staying alive and healthy and curious as long as I can. Following Dylan Thomas’s advice “Do not go gentle into that goodnight, rage rage against the dying of the light.” Who wants to join me in this challenge? I hope it is all of you!