Reader Roundup: The 'Inspiring Longevity' Edition

Everybody wants to live longer...

And while remaining active is key, getting injured is a given.

That was the message from reader feedback to the “Reality of Longevity” essay here last week, when I discussed how I was spending a few weeks in a walking boot to help heal a foot issue.

The boot has since come off, but away from the noise of Wall Street – my usual topic here – the comments were inspiring.

What struck me was the number of comments from folks considerably older than I am.

A few are quite long, but if you need some inspiration, I highly urge you to scroll through them.

None stuck out more than this one, from Gurnam B., who wrote…

Herb: I remember you as a writer with a good mind and high integrity when you worked at the San Francisco Chronicle a few decades ago. When I was young, I thought running meant jogging 100 or two hundred yards.

"But after an early retirement I ran my first marathon at the age of 57, because an old lady next door said she had run a marathon.

Then I ran a total of 32 marathons, including the Boston marathon in 2005 (It was easier in old age to qualify to enter the race.)

The last one was the San Francisco marathon at the age of 84. Then I had to quit because of various issues.

Last year I was able to walk 19 miles, from the flats of Oakland to Skyline Blvd (see below), then toward the Tunnel Road in Berkeley and back.

Google Maps

But soon after that I went with a friend from Berkeley to climb the back side of Mt. Tam. I had no fall or injury but developed pain in one leg during the following days and weeks. Doctors said OVERSTRESSED HAMSTRING, and nothing can be done except PT or if I want steroid shots.

At the age of 93, I don't want to try anything. But I take my 100-year old brother for a walk three times a week, and in the process I get some exercise.

My brother was in the British Indian army during WWII. I asked the other day if he had any kind of pain in the body at this age; and he said "Oh, NOT YET." I don't think I am that lucky.

I’m in awe.

I also wanted to share this, from Mitch S., who writes..

Hi Herb: I have been reading you since I started as a sell-side analyst in San Francisco in 1995 following enterprise software.

Back then, I appreciated your skepticism of many stocks and perhaps that was a part of my journey to the hedge fund business in New York, where I became a successful portfolio manager, with particular success shorting internet stocks in 2001-2002 – along with shorting the market into the GFC. Shorting since then has been all of zero fun.

It's been an on and off relationship over time, but glad you've made it back into my inbox. Your reads are always welcome.

In 2008, right before everything crashed, I tried to explain to the guy who ran the hedge fund I worked at that the banks were going to zero and we were all going to be living in mud huts :-)

He didn't like my ideas very much. So I quit and went to live in the south of France to work on my French and 'figure out life,' whatever that means. I thought I would be out of finance for a year. It's now been 15 and it's been a joyful journey.

In these 15 years, I have survived cancer, a horrific 25-year back injury, and unbelievably painful 18-year hip injury and countless others. My greatest joy was always riding my bike. I even reached for a bit. But I wasn't able to ride for 15 of those years of the 18 year hip injury.

At 58, I am now healthier than I've ever been in my entire life, including childhood. I have almost completely healed the hip, I have completely healed the back, I overcame the cancer and at worst, has some relatively minor aches and pains. And, I bike 200 miles a week, often doing 50-70 mile rides, solo, in the midday sun of Miami in the middle of summer (I do not recommend this. I have had to learn a great deal about hydration... . the hard way. Cramping is not fun!).

I have studied the mind and body extensively, applying the same analytical rigor to these studies that I applied to achieving an excellent track record as a hedge fund manager. Perhaps more importantly, I have opened and softened and done very deep spiritual work. And here's what I can tell you and what I teach others as a coach, corporate trainer and public speaker. I'm also writing some books by the way:

It's all about emotions.

All physical sufferings come from emotional dysregulation, IMHO.

I know that sounds like a pretty bold statement, but I can tell you I healed my hip after 18 years in all of 4 days. It was never about the torn labrum. It was about when my father left when I was a kid. And when I figured that out and worked with the emotional energy, my hip healed by itself. No surgery (I had had surgery 9 years prior, which failed almost immediately and became even more painful).

I healed my back without the surgery that I was told was absolutely necessary by the heads of surgery at two hospitals. Without the surgery, I hiked three mountain passes in Colorado with a 30 lb. backpack one year later (I did have ozone injected into my discs which I think helped a lot). I also do a lot of biohacking. Some of it works, some of it doesn't.

The body and mind are the most complex things in the known universe. In my humble opinion, we don't understand them all that well, especially when we treat them as though they are mechanical. They are not and this is where medicine goes wrong, IMHO.

Should you ever wish to discuss, feel free to reach out. I'm writing books about this experience and my experiences in helping others.

Mitch, have your people call mine.

Here’s what I know: My “Reality of Longevity” essay was the best read of anything I’ve done on Substack. .

Maybe I’m missing the boat and and should ditch this whole investing nonsense and focus on all things longevity.

On the other hand, I plan on ramping up and rebranding my Red Flag Alerts.

Let me know what you think.

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Feel free to contact me at herbgreenberg@substack.com. You can follow me on Twitter and Threads @herbgreenberg.