Originally Posted by
Ray9
A lot of people wonder why I do something every day that would kill most people if they tried it once. Because I read the warnings on cigarette packages I abstained from the habit in 1976 when the price of the lung destroyers was 35 cents a pack. Observations of friends and relatives that abused alcohol convinced me to avoid the poison and seeing the damage done to those who smoked weed and progressed to the stronger stuff alerted me to the reality that I and I alone have responsibility for my personal health.
In 1972 when I watched Frank Shorter win the Olympic Marathon I started running to stay in shape when no one else I knew was doing it. I ran for many years until my joints and ligaments began to protest and because I had saved thousands from not buying tobacco weed, or alcohol, I had the resources to purchase an expensive racing bicycle in 1983. It was the best investment of my life as nearly all of the people who were putting powder up their noses at the time are either already dead or swallowing their faces in a nursing home today.
As a libertarian I support the choices of all the corpses and institutionalized vegetables warehoused in beds across the nation enjoying the fruits of those choices. Every day at 72 I get on my bike and ride fifty miles, chasing the wind with clear lungs by choice. I know there is a risk due to traffic, driver inattention and impaired vehicle operation but it’s a risk worth taking just like the risk many others took when they voluntarily sabotaged their vital organs with chemicals.
If I should meet my end on the highway don’t feel sorry for me because any sympathy I have for those who threw away their health by eating like pigs, smoking like chimneys and drinking like fish can be measured in microns.
As a Baby boomer I got (a) great deal. Jonas Salk and Alexander Fleming cleared the minefield of many diseases that took out depression-era citizens and my path was easier. I have a huge appreciation for those who worked so hard to make things better for me. That’s why I ride my bike; It’s good for my heart, my lungs and my mind.
You do what you want; you’re free for now. See you on the road.
Have mercy - I never begrudge anyone a decent life, but your arrogance is almost palpable.
Seriously, there's only one way we all get out of here (i.e., life on this earth), and the effects of aging are inevitable for all of us. A very few get to the end of life fully ambulatory and with their wits intact, only to go out quickly and with little fuss. The rest of humanity fights against the infirmities of aging and eventual loss of faculties to the very end.
Then, just as someone else carried us from the birthing table to the crib without us knowing it, we are carried from the deathbed to the grave without a clue as to what is happening.
Some sage once said that "humility is seeing ourselves as the divine sees us." I'm not advocating any particular religion, but I am saying there is an inescapable reality that each of us has to face at the end of life.
So you certainly should enjoy the vitality you have, but you also need to know the day is coming when a bit of humility will help you face those who will care for you when you are no longer able to care for yourself.
BTW, please excuse my nitpicking (former English teacher here), but I corrected your writing in your penultimate paragraph.
Just keeping it real...