It was a fantastic morning. The workout was one of those kick-ass sessions where everything worked, and nothing hurt. Every song on my playlist slammed, and I jumped from one set to the next with no need for self-talk – it was just natural.

A quick stop at my local coffee house (my regular reward when my workout doesn’t suck) to hear “NORM!” – a reference to a nostalgic TV sitcom from the 80’s but of course they used my name, but it always reminds me of Cheers – awesome! Ready to start my day and the 6-mile trek to create digital fishing lures to hook consumers into buying more products they don’t need; don’t even get me started. But I had about 12 minutes to savor the first dark roast of the day.

I looked up to the bar where the barista and a girl stood. The way they looked in my direction, I knew they were talking about me, and I was about to be “fundraised.” The girl turned and walked toward me as the barista knowingly smiled. I was already calculating how much I was willing to part with – I’m a sucker for a good cause. By her smile and walk, I could tell she was confident and one of those “happy morning people.”

She introduced herself and got right to it, but to my surprise, it had nothing to do with a donation. She said, “May I ask you a kind of personal question?” At this odd, bold 7 AM request from a stranger, my breath stopped mid-sip as I looked up from my steaming coffee, thinking about which skeletons to tuck away. Taken aback, I looked over at Dani behind the espresso machine, who tossed a thumbs-up smile that said, “Don’t worry.”

I said, “Sure, how can I help?”

She said, “I have one question. I am told that you are very active, go to the gym, eat pretty healthy, and take care of yourself.”

I said, “Yes,” not sure where this was going.

“Why?” she said. “Do you do it to try to get younger, stay younger, and try to reverse the clock, or to just be healthy? Or do you do it because you are more concerned about your appearance?”

I blathered something about reaching my full potential and wanting to get the most out of my day, knowing I’d have a better answer once the question seeped in. We chatted for a bit, and she left seemingly satisfied with my answer – a school project, no doubt. I knew an “aha!” moment of brilliance and an “I should have said this” would come up later.

This was a really good question, one I had never really faced myself with. What was I trying to do, and why? I mean, staying healthy is great, working out definitely gives me more energy, but it felt like there was more to the answer. I decided to take a hard look at it. After a day or so, here’s what I came up with: I know there is no escaping aging and time, but I can offset the effects.

The short answer is I want to be the best version of me; to experience as much as I can, meet as many people as I can, see as much as possible, touch as many lives as I can for as long as possible.