80. The Perfect Score for Living Hard.

This week George Steinbrenner died at the ripe old age of 80. This reminded me of an exercise I went through a few years back. As grim as it sounds, at one point I gave a bit of thought to how long I’d like to live. At one point even turning it into a math problem of sorts.

At the time I concluded that I wanted the ideal balance of living hard and living long. I don’t want to turn in the car at the Hertz counter of life and have the gas topped off and nary a dent. I also don’t want to run out of gas on the side of the road. Rather I’d like to coast in on fumes with CDs on the seats and beef jerky on the breath.

Now it’s difficult to find an entire country or tribe who as a group lives hard. The best example I could find was the Rat Pack. In Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop we had 5 guys who lettered in living hard. Guys who drank, ate, smoked, and wore colored sport coats. Guys who put salt on their food before they tasted it. Guys who slapped your face a bit too hard when they said hello and goodbye. Guys who chased women. Guys who called a spade a spade. Guys who handed out nicknames and hundreds to everyone they passed by. Guys who soaked up beauty, music, and humor.

So I looked it up. How long did each member of the Rat Pack live?

Frank lived to 82.
Dean lived to 78
Sammy lived to be 64
Peter Lawford lived to be 61
Joey Bishop lived to be 89

Divided by 5 that equals 74.8. But I was mostly focused on Dean and Frank and 80 is right between them. So that was it. If you live the right way, you should only live to be about 80. Maybe a touch less.

And I’m OK with that, because I think that’s the right amount. The human body is a pretty amazing vessel being able to endure what we put it through. If you live to 80 you’re getting 20-25 years of the golden grandparent time, yet it’s still short enough to leave them wanting more.

In a lot of the reports on Steinbrenner’s death they refer to his “animal spirit,” one reporter calling him equal parts boor and buccaneer. I’d take that as a compliment. I once had a psychic tell me that I shouldn’t let go of my “leopard side of life.” She was referring to the realization that we’re only on this earth for a short time and we should devour it. We should live hard.

Before I studied abroad in Australia my junior year of college I’ll never forget an older student (who had just returned from Australia) stumbling up to me at a party drunk and with wild eyes. He grabbed me by the shirt and said simply, “Do Everything.”

The difference with people like Steinbrenner and the Rat Pack is they took that “Do Everything” approach to their entire life not just a Saturday or a semester abroad. They lived hard. And while they may have only made it to about 80, their obituaries aren’t about regular guys named Frank and George – rather they’re about larger-than-life characters named The Chairman and The Boss. Rest in Peace.