A Hell of a Life

Walter Breuning died a few days ago. By all accounts he was a simple man who lived a simple life. But he did so for one hundred and fourteen years.

Before going further, look at the number once more: One Hundred and Fourteen.

He lived a hair over thirty of those years in an assisted living facility, and nearly another quarter century as a widower of the late Mrs. Agnes Breuning (with whom Walter is once again strolling along with in the valley of still waters after that 54-year separation). But he was apparently still very active, at least mentally, until the very end. Along the way he picked up a few insights that are worth expounding upon as careful consideration for how we all should live our lives.

On Change:
Embrace change, even when the change slaps you in the face. "Every change is good . . . I think every change that we've ever made, ever since I was a child — 100 years — every change has been good for the people . . . My God, we used to have to write with pen and ink, you know, (for) everything. When the machines came, it just made life so much easier."

Keep in mind that Mr. Breuning was a 50-year employee of the railroad . . . as a clerk. We are not speaking of Walter Breuning, CEO, whose ground-breaking innovations during his tenure carried an industry from Point A to Point B.

Mr. Breuning, after his career had ended, saw the industry shunt along in a mindless limp, following the pathways forseen by Harvard economist, Professor Theodore Levitt, in his paper on Marketing Myopia. That is, when an industry fails to see its potential outside of a narrow scope, it eventually dies, whether theoretically or in the literal sense.

Mr. Breuning watched many friends lose their positions, and perhaps their pensions as well, because the industry failed to embrace change. The majority of those friends probably died embittered at the thanklessness of the corporate executives and their short-sightedness on making channge work for the industry. But Walter Breuning championed the concept around change. Look where it got him . . . health and happiness for 114 years.

Yet, how many people do we all know (some of us stare back at those people in the mirror) who wring their hands and tremble at the thought of trying something, anything, that is new or unfamiliar. I used to be that way about some foods, or social interaction. Some people are that way with computers or electronic technology of any kind. "Oh, that is too complicated. How do you play music on that tiny thing called an iPod?" "The same way generations went from vinyl discs to 8-Track tapes to cassette tapes to compact discs." Change is good!

And how many of those people who fret over change deny themselves of a long life? A helluva lot more than the one who lived to be 114 years old.

On Death:
"We're going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you're born to die."

Here was a man who seemingly cheated the Grim Reaper for a long, long time, albeit in an unspectacular fashion . . . just going day-to-day, putting one pants leg on at a time, putting one step in front of the other. But he did it for 114 years.

Years ago when my Mother turned 40 I overheard her tell a cousin that it was "the darkest day of my life." I was 13, and remember thinking, "And the alternative to turning 40 is . . .?"

Mom, who for years has followed my Dad around like a lap dog, is now a mindless soul of 77. She has not excercised her brain for quite a few years and depends on my Dad to tell her what she cannot do, implying she is not smart, or capable, enough.

She is a Christian woman whose eternal destiny is secured by her faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, if asked about death, she would probably cringe and begin to harbor thoughts about dying as if she were one of only a few persons who will ever die.

On a Healthy Diet:
Eat two meals a day. Mr. Breuning said his good health was due to this strict diet.

"That's all you need. How many people in this country say that they can't take the weight off? I tell these people, . . . 'Get on a diet and stay on it. You'll find that you're in much better shape, feel good.'"

But here in America, especially in Beans-and-Cornbread Country, we shovel more food down our throats at one meal than Mr. Bruening did in two meals . . . then we add one more meal and usually a midnight snack.

How in the hell are we supposed to maintain a healthy weight and high energy for many years with that extreme gluttony--a characteristic that is highly frowned upon in the Bible.

And how many shortened life spans result from the grandiose gorging? One man lived to be a lucid, lively 114 years old by avoiding that demon. That man was Walter Breuning.

Work as long as you can:
"That money's going to come in handy. Don't retire until you're darn sure that you can't work anymore. Keep on working as long as you can work and you'll find that it's good for you."

With this nugget I take a half exception . . . but only one-half. I believe work is the life force that keeps the American ideals going strong. It pushes people to do their part, and a wee bit more. Then someone else picks up the baton and does the same.

But that doesn't mean we should, at some point, not consider backing off and exploring more options. I am not talking about quitting a career, retiring to a couch, and wait for the drooling to start.

Nothing says you have to slave 40 hours a week until the day you cannot slave any more. But you should continue meaningful living until the day you die.

There were two more ideals that he did not leave the interviewers with a quote: One was to maintain a simple life. Another was to eschew the myth that owning a home is part of the American Dream.

The two actually go together in a way, although I imagine for most of Mr. Breuning's working life the idea of home ownership was more palpable than the travesty created by the current financial products industry.

Still, considering that Mr. Breuning owned only a small parcel of land briefly around the onset of the Great Depression, being a renter did not stop him from a long and healthy life.

How many strokes or heart attacks or aneurysms are caused when people get too involved in keeping up with the Jones to keep up with their health? How many suicides can also be attributed to such fallacy. Let's not begin with the slow-death diseases that eat away at people silently for too many years until it is too late.

I'm not suggesting that Mr. Breuning had all of the answers, only 93.5 percent of them. And even if someone can live such a life on the fringes of austerity, there is no guarantee that Mr. Reaper won't push them out if front of a bus before they turn 40.

But what a great beacon Mr. Breuning gave us to use.

The Responsibility of Freedom

Recently I was reading, or I should say re-reading, the words of the Viennese psychiatrist, Dr. Viktor Frankl, in Man’s Search for Meaning.

Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness . . . the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast should be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.

How true that those words, uttered over a half-century ago (by a Fer-uh-ner as some of my fellow countrymen might be wont to note), are coming to fruition in almost every theatre of life in America.

We all want freedom, no matter in what arena we choose to play. Freedom is the basis of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. And there is nothing wrong with wishing to stand tall on that pedestal, peering out over the crowd with our posture ramrod stiff and chin held high.

Sometimes, though, we Americans are too quick in peppering the opposition to our individual freedoms, often perceived as birthrights, with a vitriolic diatribe that will curdle milk. We get a wee bit uppity in our demands that others genuflect to our wants and desires as if we were diety; but woe is to them if they expect the same courtesy.

To those I ask, "What is freedom if we do not accept its twin brother of responsibleness?"

It is a concept I have almost always followed in my cycling days and can easily propose to fellow cyclists, anti-cyclists (and their more benign cousins, non-cyclists), and elected officials as a middle ground in the continuing campaigns of road-sharing and facility-building.

For myself, I cannot, in moments of less-than-lucid thought, screech about my rights like a Raptor in Jurassic Park III and demand that you Share The Damn Road if I am not prepared to take the first step and offer the proverbial Olive Branch. While not being perfect, I do strive for excellence in following this precept. And I am not alone within the fraternity of saddle jockeys.

But there are other cyclists who wear the dark-tinted lens of myopic eyewear and fail to see the logic. Last summer as I was leaving work, an intrepid wheelman zipped past me on the sidewalk outside my building, did a brief rolling stop at the corner traffic light and, taking a spot on the pavement (motorist be damned), bullied his way through traffic as he swooshed toward the local football stadium parking lots about a mile away. He was in full racing regalia, headed to a weekly criterium series being held at those lots, on a bike that shouted, "I cost a lot, a helluva lot, and my owner thinks he's better than you." He would not have missed any start times at the race series if the track were 10 miles further. But he probably incurred the wrath of more than a few anti-cyclists. Many of those incensed would most likely remember this idiot and judge accordingly, to their skewed perspective, the next cyclist who was attempting to follow the unwritten code of responsibleness.

That's why this idea must be seen in action to anti-cyclists as a means to diffuse opposition to a cyclist's freedom to ride on “their” roadways. For the most part anti-cyclists, and these folks are different than non-cyclists, are all too ready to offer complaints, condemnations, and criticisms against the entire strata of cyclists. When cyclists place responsibility before rights they are, in essence, citing a cousin of the thoughts by Buddha that, “Hatred is never ended by hatred but by love.” No, I don't want to gather with a circle of Bubba's or Bubbette's to cry, hug, and sing Kumbaya. I just want to ride my bicycle without the fear that any of them might want to skewer my skinny butt with their hood ornament.

As for elected officials, responsibleness must take a different tack that includes the almighty dollar. These folks sometimes persist in claiming roads as their gift to the people, wrapped in luxurious, but decidely diaphonous, shrouds. Choosing responsibleness here means assisting these folks to see the facts about facilities and infrastructure that are out there. It is not that they cannot find the data on their own (although sometimes they do appear quite clueless). Rather, they are allowing the efforts of the constituency to guide their actions. Sadly, too often the synonyms of constituency, as considered by our elected officials, include Lobbyi$t$ and Big Bu$ine$$. It doesn't mean that cyclists cannot impact the decision-making of the legislative process. It does mean we have to work our backsides off because there are less of us rattling the sabers in seeking change.

When faced with such daunting opposition, we must show that a) facility-building will actually include less material and more people resources, and b) also help reign in the excessive health care costs of sedentary lifestyles that are exponentially skyrocketing with each new generation.

Our approach must be the same as what gridiron strategists understand as a mis-direction play. To wit, a halfback takes the handoff from the quarterback and starts running at the line of scrimmage in one direction. As the blocking schemes develop, the runner quickly changes course where another blocking hole has opened and, swoosh, they are gone. Executed very well, the play becomes a long-gainer and perhaps even a touchdown producing effort.

Here, instead of trying to get funding for dedicated bicycle facilities, the cold, hard data is presented showing that bicycling facilities can be merged with, and augmented by, other transportation options. We have to approach the project knowing that Big Money industries interests will be stroking legislators backsides and slipping recompense in their wallets while we are standing in front of said official pleading our case. We also have to understand that the smile we see may not be because the elected official agrees with us, and our viewpoint; they are merely reacting to the gentle patting of their backsides. But we are practicing responsibleness on a grander scale.

Earl Nightingale, in his audio program, Lead the Field, had these thoughts on personal responsibility as it related to a person's career motives and decision-making: Do what you love and the money will follow. It will work in all theatres.

Let's practice responsibleness first, and then watch as the right, the freedom, to do almost anything we choose will come to us a bit easier.