The legendary former Star Trek icon William Shatner may be 95 years-old, but he’s not done with life yet. Indeed, he’s speaking out this week to say that he’s still “taking care of business,” adding that “the least of all I want to do is die.”
Shatner’s ‘Advice To Old People’
Shatner opened up to Fox News about how he is able to keep going while most of his peers his age slowed down decades ago.
“That’s why they’re old,” he explained. “Shatner’s law is speed up, do more and forget the pain, take a pill if it hurts. You get older, you hurt more. Two things. One is a weightlifter who told me, ‘When I lift three, four hundred pounds, it hurts. I’ve learned,’ he said, ‘to make the hurt my friend. Welcome, friend. The pain is here, welcome.'”
Shatner went on to say that his “advice to old people” would be to “befriend” and embrace the pain. His second tip would be to never stop moving. Indeed, Shatner warned that “if you stop moving, all you’ve got is the hurt.”
Shatner then said that one of his passions is riding horses. The former Boston Legal star also enjoys competing in an equestrian event called reigning, which he described as being “very physical.”
“The older you get, the difficulty is really getting on the horse. You have a mounting block, and you try to lift your leg up over it,” he continued. “If I would have stopped that, half my life would disappear. So I don’t stop. I just go slower.”
Shatner has defiantly continued to ride even after suffering an injury to his arm from a fall off his horse. In fact, he will be hosting the annual William Shatner’s Hollywood Charity Horse Show later this month.
Shatner’s Upcoming Show
On top of that, Shatner is preparing for his upcoming live show, The Universe is Absurd. He will be teaming up with the iconic astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson for this unscripted show, which is set to explore cosmic themes through banter and storytelling. The show is scheduled to take place on May 19 and 20 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California.
Shatner and Tyson, 67, first met when they were recording an audiobook together. They immediately hit it off and soon spent twenty hours talking to each other.
“I had to spend two days, 10 hours a day talking to a wonderful man who has become a good friend of mine now,” Shatner gushed. “Those 20 hours have given us a foothold into conversation and that’s what we’ll have on stage. But in order for it to have energy, I have to disagree with them on many points, if not all.”
As for what’s next for him, Shatner emphasized that he does not have a bucket list. Instead, he just wants to keep doing the things that he loves.
“I’m busy, and I’m vital and I’m riding horses and I’m taking care of business. And I just sold a horse,” he stated. “I did a job on Friday and Saturday. I’m busy doing concrete valuable things, I don’t want to go anywhere. The least of all I want to do is die.”
‘It Goes By So Quickly…’
Shatner ended this interview by talking about how a person’s mindset changes throughout their life. According to him, when people are around 20-25 years old, they are busy building their future and are “self-energized by your own needs.” However, they then slow down as they get older.
“When you’re 70 and 80, you look around at the magic of the Earth,” Shatner explained. “You look at the incredible beauty of life. No matter if you’re hurting, welcome hurt. You’re alive, for God’s sake. In no time at all, you’ll be interred with turds and so relish as much as you can of your life because it’s over.”
“I’m here to testify. One truth I know. It goes by so quickly,” he concluded. “When I hear somebody utter the number of my age, I’m tempted to look around to see who he’s talking about, because that doesn’t seem real. It seems like some bad dream. I’m how old? No, I’ll wake up momentarily. That’s how I feel.”
Shatner is a true living legend, and there will never be another one like him. We’d like to wish him many years of health and happiness to come.
God bless you, William Shatner!