I think it was around age 37 that I had to start thinking that I wasn't immortal and capable of any physical feat anymore without getting seriously injured. I was doing a class 4 rock climbing move when most of the muscles in my right leg tore off the back of my knee and I fell into the ocean where I was climbing on rocks near Big Sur. I almost drowned because I couldn't use my right leg at all to swim or to even try to walk out of the surf. Also, if you have ever been to Big Sur the water most of the year is between 52 and 57 degrees there so this was another rude awakening to fall into very cold water with my clothes on and my keys and wallet in my pocket. Then as I crawled out of the surf coughing and sputtering my family (wife and 3 kids) began running up the beach to help save me. I think this was the first time I had to realize I wasn't in my teens or twenties anymore.
These kinds of rude awakenings happen as you age where all of a sudden you can't do what you used to do. I have watched friends basically die or almost die from this sort of thing as they age too.
Like Clint Eastwood said in one of the Dirty Harry movies "A man's got to know his limitations."
So, be aware of what you can and can't do at every stage of your life or you will either be a cripple or dead before your time.
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