i met my 85-year old self for a walk…

I met my 85-year old self for a walk - her idea actually. I suggested coffee. She smiled and said, “It’s gorgeous out. Why not go for a walk?”

I hugged her — and felt so proud of who we had become.

Then she cried. “It’s because of you” she said, “that I can even do this.”

Because you moved our body with compassion. Because you lifted to build strength and resilience. Because you chose rest.

You thought of me — even when it felt too far away to matter.

She told me about her friends, some who can barely make it from the bed to the bathroom.

She wished they’d had someone like me — someone who thought ahead, who cared and invested in our strength like a 401k, in the body we’d grow old in.

And maybe in your 20s, 30s, 40s it feels like you have time. But what you do now lays the foundation for the life you’ll live then.

Every rep, every walk, every workout — it matters today and it is a gift for tomorrow.

It’s shaping the life that your future self gets to live.

A life filled with saying yes. A life filled with energy and independence. A life on your own terms.

That makes everything worth it.

Every time you didn’t want to do the workout but did it anyway. Every time you lifted the heavier weight. Every time you wondered if it even mattered.

It did. It does. It will.

Because you aren’t just showing up for today — you are investing in your body for the rest of your life.