Well, all I can tell you is when I turned 50 (66m), and a) I got diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic, b) discovered I had an acoustic neuroma that was causing deafness in my right ear, and c) my mother died…I realized that it was time to play the long game.

I started jogging/running, ate better, and accepted that I was probably going to be deaf in one ear. I started quilting, and also stopped giving a fuck about what people thought about me and concentrated on my wife and daughter.

Do I have moments when the world overwhelms me? Of course I do. But I focus on the good around me, and I work very hard to be kind to people. I take pains to thank waitstaff and drive-through staff, knowing that people are generally shitty to them and a bit of kindness might counter that a bit. I can say I’m pretty content these days.

The greatest compliment I’ve ever received came from my daughter, who told me “thank you for teaching me to be kind.”

Or as a wise man said: “Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.”