{"product_id":"serenity-at-70-gaiety-at-80-why-you-should-keep-on-getting-older-by-garrison-keillor-autographed","title":"Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80: Why you should keep on getting older by Garrison Keillor AUTOGRAPHED","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eCreated just for fans as a keepsake from Garrison.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Here is a short preview:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“My life is so good at 79 I wonder why I waited this long\u003cbr\u003eto get here,” writes Mr. Keillor. “I look at the front page\u003cbr\u003eof the paper and think, ‘Not My Problem.’ The world\u003cbr\u003ebelongs to the young, I am only a tourist, and I love being\u003cbr\u003ea foreigner in America.I enjoy it as I would enjoy Paris or\u003cbr\u003eCopenhagen, except I mostly know the language. I don’t\u003cbr\u003eknow who famous people are anymore and I’m okay with\u003cbr\u003ethat.” You learn that Less Is More, the great lesson of\u003cbr\u003eJesus and also Buddha. Each day becomes importan after\u003cbr\u003eyou pass the point of life expectancy. Big problems vanish,\u003cbr\u003esmall things make you happy. And the worst is behind you\u003cbr\u003ebecause you lack the energy to be as foolish as you might\u003cbr\u003eotherwise be.\u003cbr\u003e“We arrive at old age by luck; virtue is not crucial. Luck\u003cbr\u003eis crucial. If you took time to plan your life carefully,\u003cbr\u003eyou’d be 90 by the time you turn 25.So aim for adequacy.\u003cbr\u003eBe good enough”.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith a chapter of 23 rules for aging, including\u003cbr\u003e“Enumerate your benefits,” “Enjoy inertia,” “Get out of\u003cbr\u003ethe way,” “Tell your likely survivors absolutely not to use\u003cbr\u003ethe words “A Celebration of Life’ (you already did that\u003cbr\u003eyourself), “Don’t fight with younger people; they will be\u003cbr\u003ewriting your obituary,” and finally, “Ignore rules you read\u003cbr\u003ein a book. Do what you were going to do anyway.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlso including the Five Stages of Aging, for those who like\u003cbr\u003elists, and Mr. Keillor’s account of 24 hours in a New York\u003cbr\u003eER, in which he saw clearly his own good fortune and\u003cbr\u003ealso got an EEG and a lesson in contentment from Bob\u003cbr\u003ethe Buddhist. And a few poems for no extra charge:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvery day is a beautiful gift,\u003cbr\u003eTender and precious and swift.\u003cbr\u003eThe light and the sound,\u003cbr\u003eThe sky and the ground,\u003cbr\u003eEvery hour cries out to be lived.\u003cbr\u003eThough I may be over the hill,\u003cbr\u003eStill I think I can and I will.\u003cbr\u003eI’ve forgotten just what\u003cbr\u003eI can and will, but\u003cbr\u003eThey remain a goal of mine still.\u003cbr\u003eEvery year I pass the date\u003cbr\u003eWhen my balloon shall deflate.\u003cbr\u003eMy mom entered heaven\u003cbr\u003eAt age ninety-seven,\u003cbr\u003eAnd I aim to reach ninety-eight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOld folks like Lena and Ole\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e Choose to dance sprightly and slowly\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAnd thus stay upright\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBut the gentle delight\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThey find is quite joyful and holy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eRULE 12\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDon’t fight with younger people, even if you’re right, which you probably are. When they tell you outrageous things, say, “That’s very interesting, I’ll have to think about it.” These people will be writing your obituary, and why give them a reason to put “contentious” or “embittered” in the second paragraph or accusations of cultural appropriation or insufficient anger at power imbalance. If you enjoy dispute, go after your elders if you still have any who are of sound mind. Poke them in the stomach. This will amaze them, seeing as everyone else pities them to death, and they will relish combat and rise to the challenge and it will improve their respiration. And a day later they’ll forget the whole thing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lulu","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46128831824071,"sku":null,"price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0003\/6801\/7414\/products\/serenityjp.png?v=1635795535","url":"https:\/\/shop.garrisonkeillor.com\/products\/serenity-at-70-gaiety-at-80-why-you-should-keep-on-getting-older-by-garrison-keillor-autographed","provider":"ShopGarrisonKeillor.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}