Whether people can drive or not is largely irrelevant to age and the proof of that can be seen in the demographics of our road toll. But regardless of that, being 98 does not mean you have to stop caring in this world. Being 98 does not mean you have to stop living in this world. Being 98 does not mean you have to bow out.
Evelyn - another prime example of our motto - Age No Limit!
We tend to think of supermodels are young things with the sort of beauty that holds true for a little while, then dies with their popularity (or is it the other way around?)
Not always the case.
In the case of Daphne Selfie - and isn't that an appropriate name! - we can see very clearly that age is certainly no limit. She is the world's OLDEST supermodel and holds the Guiness World Record! She is 87 and has been modelling for over 60 years.
She is glamorous, she has style, she is beautiful - and mostly, she clearly sees what so many of us do not - Age No Limit!
Larry Johnson has no problems filling in his time. Being 95 years old does not stop him doing cycling classes three times a week. Then, there are the upper-body workouts - also three times a week. In fact, the only day he takes it easy is Saturday! And in the winter, he goes skiing at least once a week.
And when we said that he takes Saturday off… well sometimes he's actually doing a 35 mile bike ride along Albuquerque's trails. Because he has plans. He aims to win four cycling events - the 5km, 10km, 20km and 40km at the National Senior Games in Minneapolis!
It all started when he was 90 years old, his grandson challenged him to ride one mile for every year. Larry Johnson was up for the challenge! Larry Johnson, like many others, is clearly a firm believer in the adage Age No Limit!
"A lot of it is a mindset. You’ve got to appreciate your body for the wonderful machine that it is and you just gotta keep it working.
I like to tell people to compare it to your car. You have to take care of it to keep it going. You change the oil, get new tires and a battery, you clean the upholstery if you spill something on it. It’s the same way with your body.
You’ve got to feed it well, exercise it, work up a sweat and get your
heart rate up. Keep your mind going. If you park your car in the garage
and don’t run it the first thing you know the tires go flat and the
battery is dead. You have high tech parts,so get some high tech things
for your body. Get on the Internet, your email, your cell phone. Find
solutions, put a smile on your face and have a social life."
Some of us can't do the stairs - we need the lifts and elevators.
But Doris Long (MBE) is an inspiration to us all.
Doris is 101 years old.
But that's not the big thing.
At the sprightly young age of 101, Doris Long became the world's oldest abseiler.
She climbs down the sides of buildings with a rope!
It was hard work. But the wind and rain did not put her off, even if she did 'swing about a bit'. She said "I enjoyed it, I feel it's well worth it". True, her legs ached and her arm. And it didn't do her hair do any good - but she still hopes to repeat the challenge next year - when she has turned 102!
Doris, great-great-grandmother was cheered and applauded by the watching crowd when she got to the bottom of the tower.
This is not her first abseil though. She did it last year too, when she turned 100. In fact, she has been doing it since she was 85.
She started started abseiling when she was 85! Too old to start something new? Definitely not.
"I don't feel afraid and never have" she said.
Doris Long (MBE) who took to abseiling at 85 years old and has just broken her own world record by descending almost a hundred meters down the side of a spinnaker tower in Portsmouth, England, is living proof of our motto - Age No Limit.
Lots of people think that when they 'get old' they are no longer needed or useful. We won't debate it - instead let's rephrase it:
Sometimes, when we have accumulated lots of life experience, we think that we can no longer contribute to the world.
Put like that it sounds contradictory doesn't it! Well, of course it is. No matter how old we are, we have lots of value and can offer amazing amounts of help to the world which, let's face it, needs help.
Here's a good example.
Wendy Smith was eighty-four but decided to learn first aid. So she did her first aid training with St John Ambulance. Just a way of passing time, you might say. Just a bit of amusement. Not likely to be of any use.
Her neighbour is still here to tell you different. After having a heart attack, he had stopped breathing. It's called 'died'. Because of her willingness to learn and have a positive impact on the world - despite being 84 years young - her neighbour survived. Wendy Smith, 84, saved his life. This eighty-four year old did CPR for ten minutes until the ambulance arrived.
So don't think you are too old. Don't think that your usefulness has come to an end. Because, at the end of the day, Wendy Smith and her neighbour are living proof of Age No Limit.
Thea Murphy always wanted to ride a horse. For practically all of her ninety years, it was her ambition. She was ninety, partially paralyzed and blind in one eye. And did we mention that she was ninety years old? Too old to ride a horse huh?
Well, proving the adage of Age No Limit, she did ride a horse! A non-profit group called 'Celebrating Seniors' made it all possible.
She loves animals and she loves horses especially and will not be forgetting her ride too soon. Yes, she said, she might be a little sore tomorrow but it didn't matter a bit. This was a day never to be forgotten.
Faujah Sing lost his wife and son when he was 89. Most people might have given up on life but he decided there was life in him yet and he started running. And so it was that in February 2013, he became the oldest person to run a marathon - at 101 years old!
And he didn't stop there - he's since completed eight more races!
But he was no stranger to record breaking - he broke NINE world records during his trip to Toronto in 2011!
Just take a look a the following videos - here's one guy who definitely doesn't buy in to the stereotype vision of older people:
Faujah Sing lost his wife and son when he was 89. Most people might have given up on life but he decided there was life in him yet and he started running. And so it was that in February 2013, he became the oldest person to run a marathon - at 101 years old!
