The Delirium of Perpetual Summer: Why I'm Choosing Depth Over 180 Years

I’ve lived in places where the four seasons of nature aren’t as pronounced as they are in the Northeast. In those environments, I immediately felt a void.

I remember spending five months in the Southwest without a single drop of rain. I love the sun as much as anyone, but two months in, I felt a strange delirium. It was the absence of change. We often fear change because it’s uneasy, but change is the very pulse of life.

The foliage of autumn is breathtaking not just because of the golden colors, but because it signals the coming of winter. That’s the time when we’re intended to slow down, end certain things, and eventually prepare for the rebirth of spring.

The summer doesn’t exist without winter. Day doesn’t exist without night.

Yet, we are living in a moment where some are obsessed with an eternal summer. We see an “immortality movement” gaining steam, driven by tech billionaires and biohackers searching for a literal fountain of youth. They talk about living to 180, harvesting organs, and using cosmetic surgeries to mask the “clock” that nature intended for every organ in the human body.

But is it realistic, or even healthy, to want to live that long?

The Shooting Stars

When I think about impact, I think about Tupac Shakur, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jimi Hendrix. None of them lived to see forty. In their short time, they accomplished more than many who live three or four times as long. They were like shooting stars—they had a mission and a desire to squeeze the life out of every second.

Energy is perpetual; it cannot be hoarded. When we obsess over immortality, are we actually celebrating the joy of living, or are we succumbing to a fear of the unknown? Or worse—is this movement just another form of the lust for power?

As resources become more expensive, I wonder if the “psychopathic few” are trying to price out the majority, creating a monolithic society. But nature is the great equalizer. There are people with far fewer resources who will outlive the wealthiest tech moguls without a single biohack gadget in sight. Nature, not money, ultimately determines who lives and who doesn’t.

The Enemy Within

In the introduction to my latest book, Young at Any Age: How to Feel Younger, Longer, I share an African proverb: “When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do you no harm.”

The obsession with living to 180 often feels like an “enemy within.” There’s a refusal to accept the natural cycle of passing the torch to the next generation. I’ve spoken to many younger people who aren’t excited about the prospect of living longer. They look at the current models of aging—assisted living facilities and the struggle for independence—and they don’t see a future they want to claim.

We don’t need more time to doomscroll on social media and hide behind technology. We need a better relationship with the time we already have.

Clearing the Queue

Healthspan isn’t about extending your timeline until it becomes a burden. Why do that? Healthspan is maintaining our ability to thrive in a world that outpaces human evolution.

I recently watched a client during a training session. She moved with a level of intention and urgency that spoke volumes. For her, it wasn’t about a “miracle pill.” The intention was to reclaim her life. Every rep mattered.

This is what I call “Clearing the Queue.” It’s removing the mental, physical, and emotional clutter—the outdated assumptions that quietly accelerate decline. Time is a non-renewable resource; we can’t store it or trade it, but we can revolutionize our relationship with it.

The Choice

We can choose to experience each passing year as a step closer to the grave, or we can embrace it as a step deeper into the fullness of what it means to be alive.

I’d rather observe my surroundings, cherish my loved ones, and enjoy the gifts I’ve been blessed with than spend my days chasing a biological impossibility. Nature has a rhythm for a reason.

Don’t just try to live longer. Live better. Clear the queue.