Live Boldly, No Matter Your Age

A note to young leaders.

Would you be willing to skydive on your 90th birthday?

That’s precisely what President George H.W. Bush did.

As a young man, Bush served in World War II as a fighter pilot. In 1944, he was shot down and had to parachute to safety. After that experience, Bush Senior vowed to one day jump out of a plane for fun.

He finally did so in 1997, at the age of 72 – then again on his 75th, 80th, 85th and 90th birthdays.

No doubt, many people around him would have counselled against it – it’s not safe, it’s not sensible.

But skydiving is safe enough. And who wants to be sensible?

What they really meant to say is that it’s not “normal” or “conventional”.

Normal is the average made lethal. Convention be damned.

Do you want to count the days in your life or the life in your days?