Leila Denmark, a Georgia doctor passed away at 114. She'd been practicing for over 70 years, she ended her practice when she was 103 yrs old. It was strange to listen to a woman say, "She was my grandmother's doctor, my mother's doctor, my doctor, my daughter's doctor and my granddaughter's doctor. I thought what it must be like to live to that age in good health. That would mean I haven't even lived half my life and that was a thought. What if for my generation living to such an age becomes the norm. It's exciting the possiblity but it's also scary because the thought of retiring at 65 is definitely out of the question. Would one take a new attitude acting like they expect to live to be 114, then how would they go about living their life?

http://www.bizjournals.co...leila.html

Interesting. We sure can forget about retirement at 65. (Holland is already at 67)

So for the future, does somebody at 65 have the energy and strenght of lets say a 50 year old person now? 107 would be great, but not if you're having a lot of health problems but you just won't die.

i think its amazing that she worked till 103!!!!!

i wouldnt mind retiring at 65 ~ by then i'd b all over work and id just want to travel

The work angle here is most interesting to me. I suspect a woman who practices until 103, regardless of how long she ultimately lived, was undertaking a labor of love rather than drudgery or absolute necessity.

If I found work that filled me with a sense of purpose to others, passion, fulfillment, etc., I'd have no problem spinning that wheel until the very moment I keeled over dead. Maybe the take-home lesson here is that we, who can expect likely much shorter lives than 114, should be about finding that thing that fills us with purpose, and devoting ourselves to it over the unforeseen limited time that we have here.

...That said, I think I'd be content to live only a fraction of the time Ms. Denmark did. I'm grateful to be alive, but...

Lammastide said:

The work angle here is most interesting to me. I suspect a woman who practices until 103, regardless of how long she ultimately lived, was undertaking a labor of love rather than drudgery or absolute necessity.

If I found work that filled me with a sense of purpose to others, passion, fulfillment, etc., I'd have no problem spinning that wheel until the very moment I keeled over dead. Maybe the take-home lesson here is that we, who can expect likely much shorter lives than 114, should be about finding that thing that fills us with purpose, and devoting ourselves to it over the unforeseen limited time that we have here.

...That said, I think I'd be content to live only a fraction of the time Ms. Denmark did. I'm grateful to be alive, but...

I think that for a lot of people, work keeps them going. Once they stop, they don't know what to do with themselves, and it's not good for them.

I got a soft spot for anyone who lives over 100. Especially still working at 100. She deserved the rest.