Stairs vs the Elevator and why it matters

My wife and I love cruising. We did our first cruise in our 30s and felt like besides the children, we were the youngest people there.

Most folks on cruise ships are older. Maybe it’s because cruising is a lazy vacation. You got everything setup for you. You don’t really have to do anything other than choose what to do. And someone waits for you to leave your room then cleans it up for you.

I love them. I work very hard. My day job is demanding. By night, I’m a composer/painter. I’m getting pretty close to the point where I can retire and compose and paint full-time.

Anyways, back to the cruise ships. We’ve been on five different cruise lines so far. We don’t really have a favorite as they’re all good but for different reasons.

You’ll see one consistency though. The fat people take the elevator and the fit people take the stairs.

Note that this is regardless of age. You’ll see fit folks in their 60s and 70s climbing the stairs like lifting a piece of paper. You’ll see fat folks in their 40s waiting for the elevator.

Not a coincidence, my friends. It’s a mindset.

This isn’t a chicken or egg thing either. The elevator people had their entire lives to take their health seriously. They didn’t. They failed themselves.

The stairs people have correctly programmed their brains to exercise by default.

The fast little old lady

I highly suggest taking an Alaskan cruise. The glaciers are amazing! So is the fish. Best fish I’ve ever had in my life.

Every 7AM, I wake up and immediately do several fast walking laps around the ship. If I remember correctly, three laps is one mile.

I wouldn’t run it. I’d walk it.

I walk pretty fast. When I used to walk to work, I’d pass up everyone. I can’t believe how slow the average person walks.

Well, there I was a little bit past 7AM walking fast and I hear a voice. “Excuse me.”

I was in someone’s way. I let her pass and lo and behold, it was a little old lady. She had to be in her 70s.

What the fuck? I’m getting passed up by a little old lady in her 70s?

The same thing happened the next day. This time, I was in a part of the walkway that was wide enough to pass me without having to say “excuse me.”

Once again, she passed my ass up. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

I finally saw her while grabbing some coffee and going out to the deck to see the sea. She was alone, gazing out over the water. I had to say something.

I said hi, introduced myself. Then we started talking.

You couldn’t believe this chick. She was alive! I mean, really alive.

She had a few decades on me but was every bit as alive as I was. I can definitely see her living to be 100+.

And she had a smile. A huge smile.

She had so much energy too. It radiated off of her. I felt like she could give an NFL team a motivational speech.

Anyways, I never saw if she took the stairs or the elevator. $1000 though says she took the stairs.

And if you haven’t figured this out yet, the stairs vs the elevator is a metaphor for something way more important – your life.

About the featured image

That’s actually my wife’s shot from Alaska. We were on the Princess cruise line, which was fantastic!

Best seafood I’ve ever had in my life.

Well, the secret to good cooking? Use the best possible ingredients. There’s nothing like eating salmon caught that morning less than 50 miles away.

And speaking of cooking, my first short story anthology has no recipes whatsoever in it. I’m a damn good cook, but I don’t use recipes. I simply cook instinctively. I know what will taste good and what will taste bad.

This book you need to buy does however have some interesting characters and original storylines.

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