Tom Pallan is 94. I'm 21. He's a family friend of my grandpa's, he still lives at home with his wife of 66 years, and he still lifts weights. Nothing in his body hurts.

I asked him what he's still trying to get better at. He answered like a man with plans.

Then it stopped being an interview. I told him about the gym, about the shift from running away from who I was to running toward who I want to be. He said, you are maturing. We spent the rest of it trading. Him on a marriage that took fifteen years to understand, me pushing him on where morality comes from if there's no God.

• He started looking after his body at 50
• Learned to ski that same year
• The job offer that never came
• The church that would not marry them
• Sixty six years, and the rough patches
• An agnostic who suspects a higher power
• One word for a whole life

If there's someone fifty years older than you, go ask them something.

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Music by Isaac Haines:
https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:
https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:00-00:50 Intro00:50-03:32 What a 94 year old is still working on03:32-06:43 The advice that would have pulled him off his path06:43-09:55 He neglected health until 5009:55-13:05 How he persevered through discrimination13:05-16:09 Ninety four years old, lifting, nothing hurts16:09-19:11 Running away from yourself, running toward yourself19:11-24:03 The only graduate nobody offered a job24:03-28:03 How long it took to truly know his wife after 66 years28:03-31:52 Why leaving got too easy31:52-36:17 The wedding the church refused36:17-41:07 Where morality comes from if not from God41:07-45:31 Whether progress can go too far45:31-50:20 The soul, and one word for a whole life50:20-50:44 Outro