The old proverb “so as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” may seem a farfetched philosophy for the older senior who has lived long enough for his/her physical body to be tired and worn out. 

 

So what about those people who defy their seniority?  For instance, consider the 101-year-old Frank Moody who beat the world record for the “oldest” skydiver in history.  If you are anyone of sane mind you may wonder exactly what this man was thinking as he took the dare from some of his buddies.  In honest reaction, my first thought was his heart.  I would have tried to talk the man out of it considering the risks of cardiac arrest at his age.  And, by all means, who are these older buddies daring him and why in the world would they dare a man of his age to jump from a plane?   They must have known something was different about Frank Moody.  The fact that Mr. Moody went to have a beer with his son after the skydive tells everyone that he had the faith to do it and would take the risk if something happened.  This has become an amazing story of someone’s choice.

 

People like this must not accept the societal, cultural, or physical norm of “oldness”.    There must be an internal control (the superego) not allowing external norms to affect the will. 

 

You may know people around you who suffer with listening to external norms.  I’m not talking about the God-given fear that one may have telling them not to jump out of a plane.  I’m talking about the ones that make people depressed because they are old.  The ones that convince people to stop pursuing their passion because they think life is over.    The ones that cause people to stop being active because they are going down a downhill slope.  The ones that make people stop smiling because there is nothing left to smile about.

 

I don’t suggest to the average senior citizen that they should go jump out of planes.  But I dare them and I dare you.  Live everyday as if it were a first.  Dance when you have the chance.  Love like you’ve never been hurt.  The day is now and you are still alive.

 

I used to think that in my older age I would be sitting on the porch, darning something for my grandchildren and having tea with my friends, but the more I think about it, skydiving is sounding like the better alternative.