This week I received a great question on the most universal topic I can imagine… aging. We’re all doing it and hope to do more of it. And if we can truly do it well, we can maximize our life experience and contributions. Watch this video for my response.
In the comments below, please share something you appreciate about your former self, and/or a dedication to the future you. Any other helpful thoughts on aging that might benefit others are also appreciated.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Very uplifting!
Thank you
My pleasure, Larry. Glad this is useful to you.
Thank you for the beautiful video on aging gracefully. We still have people talking each year at our conference and after about the year we had Dan Thurmon. No one has topped your impact with your approach to the tasks we face and the plans we make.
I listened today and feel encouraged that I am still an active educator at 69 and have signed on for another year.
The younger former President Bush spoke at the dedication of the new National Aquarium in Missouri recently. The older fomer President Bush was visited by the founder of the new aquarium in Maine – Barbara Bush talked, they cut the ribbon. What the younger Bush said about his father afterwards was how his dad is teaching him to age gracefully–even joyfully. Quite a tribute that you just affirmed. Thanks.
Sallie Chastain – Alabama
Thank you, Sallie. Very gratifying to hear the impact of our time together continues, and that I topped the list. Wow, very meaningful. Thanks also for passing along the powerful story. Aging joyfully is truly the measure of doing it right!
Thanks Dan, a great way to start the day.
Fantastic, Earl. Now go make it count!
Dan, I saw you at the CMAA World Conference in Orlando, FL, in early 2017 and talked about it with my friends and family for weeks, maybe even months! It was very good and quite inspirational. But perhaps one thing that I took away from it the most is how teamwork isn’t just necessary because of all the obvious reasons, but also to be a collective confidence and to help guide people along new paths in which they haven’t been down before. (I’m referring, of course, to your juggle act with an audience member who had never juggled before.) You’re quite a guy and I’m going to start following your social media starting today! Thanks for being you, Dan. I hope we meet again some day.
Doug, I of course remember the Orlando CMAA Conference, and I am thrilled that it made such a profound impact upon you and those you talked to. Thank you for sharing that! I promise to keep the encouragement coming your way, and look forward to crossing paths once again very soon!
I really love these, Dan. THANK YOU! At 41, the idea of “aging gracefully” has hit me pretty hard, having had to endure two shoulder surgeries (one on each…good news is I’m out of shoulders!) in the last two years. Everyone said, “It’s downhill at 40,” but my issues started at 39. I was angry! But I’m in the process of rehabbing the second one now (had the surgery back on 12/14) and I’m determined to come back from this better than ever. I’m not going to let it DEFINE ME. Rather, I intend to DEFY IT! I’m setting goals and making plans. I let go of the anger (“why me? I’m too young for this!”) and decided to harness all of the possibilities of so many more years pain-free now that my shoulders are fixed. That minor change in perspective has made a world of difference. Your video today serves to reinforce that. Much obliged!
Thank you, Beth. Great “perspective shift” on your shoulder surgeries and commitment to recovery, strength, and vitality! As we age, we increasingly must develop new methods for how me process pain and discomfort. It’s really just another part of the process of living. Rather than paralyze us, though, these experiences serve as vital clues to what we can improve or modify to transcend them. Way to go!
Great stuff!
Dan, it was great to hear from you in Milwaukee!! Your presentation was spot on and I am bound and determined to acheive podium push ups this year.
Let me know if you need a coach Tyler. It’s a big goal… but those are the ones that get us to stretch!