Fun Time: Even A Grandmother can Push the Limits of Aging
Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion, made a lot of people feel old recently when he got into the ring to challenge Jake Paul, a YouTuberturned- fighter. It was a 58-yearold versus a 27-year-old, and the youngster easily defeated the oldster.
Tyson got paid a lot of money for the Netflix fight, reportedly as much as $20 million. Many older men would fight Paul for that much money, but I would never do it, mostly because I like having an intact skull. Money is nice, but it’s hard to enjoy it while you’re in the ICU. (By the time I’ve paid my taxes and the hospital bill, I’ll be left with just enough money to hire someone to help me pull up my pants each morning.) Of course, the only reason Tyson is able to make so much money from a single fight is because he made a name for himself in his prime, back in the ’90s. He was a terror in the ring, the type of fighter who would hit his opponents so hard that it would take them a few days to remember their own names.
But there’s an old saying that “Father Time always wins,” and even Tyson can’t escape the creeping effects of aging. It eventually catches up with all of us, no matter how much we spend on hair dye. As we get older, we have to come to terms with our limitations, recognizing that we can’t always compete with people much younger than us. I say “always” because there are some older people who push themselves so hard that only a few younger people can match their achievements. Sometimes none of them can.
If you happen to run into a youngster from Canada who says, “I bet my grandma can do more push-ups than you,” you’d better not accept that bet, no matter your age. Otherwise you might find yourself being whupped by 59-year-old Donna Jean Wilde, who is no ordinary grandma.
Wilde, who hails from the province of Alberta, set a Guinness World Record this month for most push-ups in one hour by a female. She completed 1,575 push-ups in an hour. In other words, she completed more push-ups in one hour than I’ve completed in my entire life. Admittedly, I’m not too fond of doing anything with “ups”: pushups, pull-ups, or sit-ups. The only “ups” I’ve completely mastered, as my wife would attest, are screw-ups.
Wilde not only set a world record for push-ups, but she demolished the old record of 1,207 push-ups. She broke it with 17 minutes to spare. “I had to fight back the happy tears and emotions and keep going,” she told Guinness World Records. Wilde had a cheering squad at a seniors’ home that hosted the record attempt. Eleven of her 12 grandchildren were there to witness her feat. One of them had made a sign that said, “My grandma is officially amazing.”
How amazing is she? She’s so amazing that her push-ups record was her second Guinness World Record this year. In March, she set a Guinness World Record for longest time in an abdominal plank position (female). She held a plank for 4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds.To train for her plank world record, Wilde did 500 push-ups a day. Did I mention that she’s 59? “I believe that if we stay active and have health and wellness goals we can age gracefully and powerfully,” Wilde said. You can’t defeat aging, but you can certainly keep fighting it.
More of ChaiTime here:
http://www.khabar.com/magazine/chaitime/
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? We would love to hear from you about Chai Time. If you have contributions, please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
.jpg)
