Get Ready to Celebrate Another Day of Living

Get Ready to Celebrate Life

This post has less to do with medicine and more to do with preparing yourself to celebrate life. A while back listening to the radio on my way to the office I heard the song Get Ready by Rare Earth. Rare Earth’s version is a classic and one of my favorite songs – one of those songs that I can play over and over and never tire of hearing it.

The song reminded me of medical school when my friend and I would frequent Ledo’s Lounge in Columbus, Ohio on Friday nights – sometimes standing outside in the bitter cold for an hour waiting to get in (we were not very bright despite being medical students). The song was a regular play at Ledo’s Lounge in those days (1982-86).

Later the same night that I heard the song on the radio, I searched for it on YouTube.  I came across many videos of Rare Earth and Peter Rivera, the original lead singer (with the distinctive voice) and drummer for Rare Earth. After watching several videos of Mr.Rivera playing it occurred to me that he appears to have “aged energetically”.  Aging energetically – that’s really what Age Management Medicine/Anti-Aging Medicine is all about.

Now into his mid-60’s he’s still performing with the same zest and hasn’t missed a beat (pun very much intended).  Though I don’t know anything about him or his state of health, he obviously loves what he does and is extremely talented. Over the years in taking care of patients, many of whom are quite successful, I’ve concluded that having a real passion for what you do can overcome some less than desirable lifestyle habits.

Perhaps, that’s lesson number 1 in life – love what you do.  And, do it so well that you have no equal.  Malcolm Gladwell in researching for his book Outliers: The Story of Success discovered that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become really good at something – good enough to be a master. 10,000 hours – that’s the equivalent of four hundred seventeen 24 hour days. I’m sure Peter Rivera has put in far more than 10,000 hours playing the drums.

In one interview on YouTube, Mr. Rivera talked about putting together a larger band in these later years, something he always wanted to do, called Celebrate with Peter Rivera.  That’s another lesson – it’s never to late to start working on fulfilling your goals. Living youthfully certainly makes that possible.

The words, “I just want to celebrate another day of living” from I Just Want to Celebrate provide great advice for all of us. Life is about preparation, or getting ready, but it is also about taking time to celebrate.  The better your preparation, the bigger your rewards, the bigger and better the celebration. Work hard, play hard! Age energetically!

Life’s Lessons

1. Find something you love to do and do it.

2. Practice, practice, practice. Get Ready!  Become a master having no equal.

3. Take time to Celebrate each day.

4. Take care of your health so that you can Celebrate tomorrow, too.

5. Oh yes, with it being Valentine’s Day be sure to love someone.

Enjoy the following videos – a little Rock-n-Joe for you. I recommend listening with headphones while cranking up the volume. Looks like playing the drums can give you a good work out as evidenced by the last video. Come back and visit us regularly so that you can age energetically, too!

See related articles.

“Slowing Down Aging Process”

“Aging Myths Debunked”

“AntiAging the Four Secrets: Part II”