We all get old. As we grow older, getting out of bed and facing the day becomes increasingly difficult. The reasons for slowing down are myriad: weight gain, diminished muscle mass, lower bone density, inelasticity, and a general fear of injury. As the tired and adage goes, “the only two certainties in life are death and taxes.” We can avoid the taxes if we are crafty, but death lingers for us all, and the only clues it gives look like aging. We all get old, but some age more gracefully than others. So how do they make growing old look so good?

In the National Geographic television series, Limitless, actor and general superhuman specimen Chris Hemsworth spends a year of his life chasing the idea of eternal youth. He fights off aging with ice baths, fasting, weight training, and neurological trickery. It’s an entertaining and insightful series, but perhaps the greatest gift of the series occurs in the final episode, where Hemsworth stops fighting aging, and accepts it instead. He even confronts his own death.

The producers build a custom-made village and hire elderly actors. They create a suit specially constructed for Hemsworth which constricts his movement, blurs his vision, and restricts his hearing. He arrives to the village bundled up as an old man for a three-day stay. And while the entire series challenges the Marvel superhero, this short stint as a man in his winter years impacts him emotionally in a much larger way. It’s both heartwarming and tragic to watch him come to terms with The Big Things humans are conditioned to push away or be ashamed of.

However, wrinkles and death are inevitable so the expectations around them are not only futile, but childish in the most ironic ways. You will get old. You will die. It’s best to see it coming over the horizon and embrace the changes so you can live life fully until you disappear into the great stardust in the sky again. There is hope in longevity on this earth though.

Let’s dispel with a big myth first: that we can’t stay strong. Science shows that heavy weight training workouts still produce all the muscle one needs as we enter our later years. As always, exercise remains paramount. Some may say more important as we age. A 2023 article in The Washington Post reports on a study that shows “older adults with mobility problems who participate in a regular program of aerobic and resistance exercise can reduce their risk of becoming disabled by about 20 percent.”

Fitness advisers to the elderly say train less but with more intensity. Lift heavier weights. Sleep more. And eat better. It’s the same thing we tell everyone, proving that older people are, well, just a little older, not dead. Perhaps the ones we can learn most from are those who have hit the 100-year-mark. On Netflix’ Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, author of The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner, travels through areas of the world where long-living humans thrive: Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California. Along the way he meets a bunch of centenarians who share their secrets: habits, diets, and lifestyles that keep you going longer. Most of the results are obvious— veggies and fruits and other whole foods, optimism, minimal alcohol, exercise—but one factor is more intriguing.

Across the spectrum of successful aging, a sense of purpose bigger than yourself was found in all the groups. For some it’s work. For others it’s family. For most it simply looks like being needed. We all need a purpose that keeps us honest, even if it’s not as grand as winning a Nobel Prize or writing that great American novel.

As Frightened Rabbit singer and songwriter Scott Hutchinson sang, “When my blood stops, someone else’s will not….and while I am alive, I’ll make tiny changes to this earth.”

It’s all most of us will do, and it is more than enough. Life is meant for living, not staving off the fear of an eventual certainty of death. Joy and love should always come first. Focus on that. It will keep your spirit young, even when your body refuses to get out of bed easily.

Pleio believes in living with purpose. Our purpose is to provide human-to-human support to patients diagnosed with a chronic illness. It’s a tiny change that makes a big impact in the lives of the patients we serve.