How to Have a Much Healthier, Stronger Old Age — Starting Right Now By Reading This Book

“Being Mortal” tells it like it is — and it empowered me

You may not be old yet, but it’s pretty well guaranteed that you’re going to be, sooner or later. Most people don’t want to think about that, but if you don’t — well in advance — your old age is likely to be pretty darned miserable.

I worry about this on and off, so finding a book that tackled the issue head-on and gave me some clear advice on what to do about it was … exciting! Yes, I used that word about growing old.

Because I don’t want to be old and have falls, break bones, end up in a terrible nursing home and treated like a vegetable. I want to do something about it now.

The book is called “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. That’s probably scared off a lot of you already. You’ll be thinking — you mean this guy is going to talk about dying? Of course he is! That’s the thing that comes after you get old.

The subtitle is “Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End”. Nobody wants to be ill, and medicine tends to cost a lot of money most of the time. Plus, our medical profession now focuses on keeping you alive no matter what. There seems to be no more going quietly or peacefully. You’re more likely…