Welcome to the Don’t Let The Old Man In blog.

This is a blog providing thoughts and advice on discovering and keeping a positive attitude towards aging.

The ultimate goal of this blog is to get a million followers and sell advertising, because monetizing everything is what America is all about, right? Barring that highly improbable eventuality, it is just a hope that you will find it useful and entertaining.

This blog was inspired by a meeting between Clint Eastwood and Toby Keith, the country music star. Eastwood and Keith were playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament. Eastwood, then 88 years old, mentioned that he was working on a movie and other things. Keith asked what kept him so active and Eastwood responded “I try to get up and be productive. Don’t let the old man in.”

That line served as the inspiration for Keith to write a song, entitled “Don’t Let the Old Man in.” It was used in Eastwood’s movie “The Mule” and became a country music hit. Keith’s lyrics eloquently express the don’t-let-the-old-man-in attitude. Listen to it, it is a wonderful song.

So, just who is the Old Man?

The first step in keeping the Old Man out is to know who he is and to recognize him when he shows up. The Old Man has many guises and tricks, but they are all oriented to destroying our vitality.

It can be physical, a pain here, an ache there, or something more chronic or serious (he loves cancer and heart disease!) His targets can also be psychological or emotional (he relishes such things as depression, negativity and anger). The Old Man is a son-of-a-bitch, a real asshole. He is a party pooper on steroids. He may be distantly related to the Devil, I don’t know. I do know that he is very smart and quite persistent. He will never stop trying to bring us down.

The Old Man is always knocking on our door, and the older we get, the harder he will knock. But do not let him in! Do not even crack the door, because if you do he will barge in and then do you know what he will do? He will sit in your favorite chair, drink your whiskey and take your woman. And you will never get him to leave.

So be warned my friend! Don’t let the Old Man in!