3-Line Diary 3/30: After 60, It's All a Bonus
After you pass 60, everything else is a bonus.
By bonus, I mean the remainder of your lifespan.
Dr. Moriyo Kimura said as much in a video.
She says she turned 60 this year.
I am 76 now, but when I was 60, I didn't think that at all.
I thought my life was still just beginning.
I didn't have any major illnesses, and I thought 60 was just an extension of 50.
However, in my case,
as soon as I passed 70, my physical condition clearly declined.
And it wasn't a gradual aging process,
but rather a step-like decline, where I suddenly aged every year.
70 was a dress rehearsal for 80.
I felt that very strongly.
And now, looking back at my 70s, I think this:
"After you pass 70, everything else is a bonus."
Since 70, my body has been full of ailments, but
the fact that I've been able to live without any major illnesses
truly feels like a gift from God.
So, how should I live these gifted days?
Moriyo Kimura puts it quite simply.
Even if it's a little bad for your health, do only what you want to do.
Like drinking a cold beer every day at 5 PM.
That first ice-cold sip is like a drop of water in the desert.
She says that is pure bliss.
And, absolutely never do what you don't want to do.
Don't do work you dislike.
Absolutely never meet people you don't like.
I strongly empathize with this.
I cannot drink alcohol.
Instead, I make sure to drink a hot cocoa every morning at 9 AM.
I don't worry about things like diabetes.
After all, this is bonus time in my life,
so I'm lucky just to be alive right now.
And I want to avoid unpleasant work as much as possible.
I don't want to hold publishing seminars for people I dislike.
That said, I have to earn a living, so
I think it's fine if I can do that at 70%.
And to enjoy this bonus, a certain resolve is necessary.
That is, not to care about conventional wisdom.
Specifically, it means not fearing an ordinary life or poverty.
In Japan today, it is impossible to be unable to eat due to poverty,
or to have nowhere to live.
There is a system called public assistance that supports a minimum standard of living.
I feel no shame at all about using public assistance.
If it becomes necessary, I will use it proudly.
Actually, I was once asked by a public assistance caseworker to produce a publication,
and I published a book.
Since the first one was well-received, I was able to publish two.
Of course, it was commercial publishing.
At that time, I was able to see the mechanisms and the inner workings of public assistance.
Public assistance is not something granted by people in high positions.
It is a right of the citizens.
That is what I learned.
This resolve is an insurance policy for when the time comes.
However, whether or not you have this resolve,
the way you experience the bonus changes completely.
Because a bonus is not a time for endurance,
but a time for savoring.
Regarding health and money, resolve yourself that 70% is enough.
If you do that, you can truly enjoy the time you have left,
lightheartedly and happily.
By the way,
never, ever think, 'Let's save the bonus!'
After all, being in the bonus time of your lifespan means
that just being alive today is a pure profit.
In other words, it's possible that you might go to heaven tonight while you sleep.
Bonus time only has meaning once you've used it all up.