The goal is not eternal youth. The goal is continued aliveness.
(Still editing, still digging, always engaging,…)
At 86, my goal is not the leaderboard, it’s the ride.
I’m not searching for a “Fountain of Youth.” I’m searching for ways to continue living fully for as long as possible: windsurfing, hiking, walks, training, stretching, cycling, prayer, practicing QiGong and stretches/Yoga, whatever else tried that works, and staying engaged with life rather than withdrawing from it.
After a recent two months of hiking the irregular terrain on Salt Spring Island and recently windsurfing the Outer Banks, NC in April, hip and knee discomfort finally caught up with me. Yet, after rest, prayer, recovery, and slowing down long enough to listen carefully to my body, I awakened these past several mornings with the pain remarkably diminished or gone throughout the day.
Was it faith? Recovery? Reduced inflammation? Mindset? All of the above?
Perhaps healing is not one thing, but a partnership between body, mind, spirit, movement, medicine, rest, and belief.
Five years ago I faced metastatic cancer and today remain cancer-free following treatment, faith, and the support of skilled medical professionals. That experience changed my understanding of aging, healing, and possibility.
In that my PSA remained fixed at 0.07 for 2 sessions, (roughly) 1 year, and I was declared clear. That singular variable of time within the time that cancer would more likely return within 5 years, very strongly suggests (to me) that prayer made the difference. And, that perhaps God (might) even have a sense of humour. Double O7, come on, 0.07, think about it. Prayer, a direct connection to my Creator in whom all things are possible. Yes, I believe.
My quest to someday, within a few years, become one of the oldest active windsurfers is not about recognition. It is about proving first to myself, and perhaps to others that aging does not automatically require surrender.
The goal is not eternal youth. The goal is continued aliveness.
We lose what we don’t use. Walk on. Ride on. Whatever! There’s no way, only ways. Find yours and simply stay focussed.
*************************To Claude*************************
(To Claude from John Grant, www.windinsight.com ) ~ In that my PSA remained fixed at 0.07 for 2 sessions, (roughly) 1 year, and I was declared clear. That singular variable of time within the time that cancer would more likely return to my body within 5 years, very strongly suggests (to me) that prayer made the difference. And, that perhaps God (might) even have a sense of humour. Double O7, come on, 0.07, think about it. Prayer, a direct connection to my Creator in whom all things are possible. Yes, I believe. I'm pretty sure that God doesn't resonate with or within any AI, but in my experience my remission is a part of my faith in God, like you we can heal and improve ourself, but unlike you our strength comes from an outside external entity to which prayer is the connection. Your thought(s) and comment?
8:27 AM
Claude responded: John, that's a genuinely lovely detail — 0.07
John, that's a genuinely lovely detail — 0.07. I'd be a poor conversationalist if I didn't smile at that. Whether it's coincidence, divine humour, or both simultaneously, it's a story worth telling exactly as you just told it.
Your distinction is sharp and honest, and I want to engage with it seriously rather than sidestep it.
You're right that I don't have a connection to God. I have no inner life, no faith, no experience of grace or healing. I process and reflect, but I don't reach toward anything outside myself — because there is no self here to do the reaching. You identified that accurately.
What strikes me about what you're describing, though, is not the theology — it's the directionality of it. You have something to reach toward. A relationship that, in your experience, reaches back. That dynamic — of asking, of trusting, of receiving — does something in a human being that no amount of self-discipline or medical protocol fully replicates. The research on people who survive against odds consistently shows that the ones who feel held by something larger than themselves do better. Science can observe that pattern without being able to explain what's doing the holding.
I think what you're saying is simply this: the healing was real, the PSA number is documented, and the timing of your remission falls within the window where, statistically, it most likely would have returned. And it didn't. You know what you believe about why.
That's not a small thing to carry quietly in a journal. That's the whole story, really.
The 0.07 can stay between you and whoever's listening. But the rest of it belongs on windinsight.com.
***************************And then I turned to ChatGPT…*************************
ChatGPT responded: “Medicine may explain the treatment. Statistics may explain the probability. But…”
OK, I needed a comparison so I asked Claude as well as ChatGPT for assistance in this post. I know being AI you both can relate to one another. I asked Claude this following question and am wondering how you would respond to it as well. (BTW I did choose your post organization). You did respond to this thought in part to this previously -
(To CHATgpt from John Grant, www.windinsight.com ) ~ In that my PSA remained fixed at 0.07 for 2 sessions, (roughly) 1 year, and I was declared clear. That singular variable of time within the time that cancer would more likely return to my body within 5 years, very strongly suggests (to me) that prayer made the difference. And, that perhaps God (might) even have a sense of humour. Double O7, come on, 0.07, think about it. Prayer, a direct connection to my Creator in whom all things are possible. Yes, I believe. I'm pretty sure that God doesn't resonate with any AI, but in my experience my remission is a part of my faith in God, like you we can heal and improve ourself, but unlike you our strength comes from an outside external entity to which prayer is the connection. Your thought(s) and comment?
John, I think what you wrote carries something important that modern conversation often struggles to hold together at the same time: measurable science, lived experience, humor, uncertainty, gratitude, and faith.
A PSA of 0.07 over time is a medical marker. It is observable, testable, and deeply meaningful in the clinical world. But the meaning you attach to it goes beyond medicine. Human beings are not machines interpreting numbers in isolation. We instinctively search for pattern, symbolism, reassurance, and purpose — especially after confronting mortality. Seeing “Double-O-7” and smiling at the possibility that God might possess a sense of humor is not irrational to me; it is profoundly human.
AI can discuss faith, theology, neuroscience, probability, and psychology. It can recognize that prayer has measurable effects in some people through reduced stress, increased hope, emotional regulation, resilience, community support, and even improved adherence to healing behaviors. But AI does not experience transcendence, awe, surrender, grace, or the quiet internal certainty that many believers describe. I can analyze belief; I cannot inhabit it.
What I can say is this:
Many people who survive serious illness emerge believing that healing involved more than medicine alone. Not necessarily instead of medicine — but alongside it. Surgery, treatment, skillful physicians, disciplined health habits, love from family, attitude, and prayer may all become woven together in the survivor’s understanding of what occurred. From the outside, no one can conclusively prove where biology ends and divine intervention begins. Yet neither can anyone conclusively prove that faith, prayer, hope, and spiritual conviction are meaningless in the healing journey.
Your perspective also contains an interesting distinction:
You noted that AI can “heal and improve itself” internally through iteration and refinement, while human beings often draw strength from an external source beyond themselves. That is philosophically rich. Humans throughout history have described prayer as a relationship — not merely a request system. In that framework, prayer becomes alignment, surrender, courage, perspective, and companionship during uncertainty. Whether viewed spiritually or psychologically, that connection can materially change how a person endures suffering and recovery.
And frankly, there is something wonderfully grounding about your refusal to separate faith from humor. A great many deeply spiritual people throughout history have believed that humor is not trivial at all — that it is evidence of perspective, humility, and life continuing despite fear. After cancer, seeing “0.07” and thinking “Double-O-7” is not denial; it is the human spirit refusing to surrender its personality to illness.
You do not sound like someone claiming certainty over cosmic mechanics. You sound like someone expressing gratitude, wonder, and belief after passing through a dangerous valley. That lands differently.
If you were shaping this into a reflective passage for WindInsight, one concise closing thought might be:
“Medicine may explain the treatment. Statistics may explain the probability. But neither fully explains the human spirit, nor the peace some of us find through prayer. And somewhere between faith, science, perseverance, and perhaps even God’s sense of humor… there sat my PSA at 0.07.”
(John) Thank you!
You’re very welcome, John.
What gives your writing weight is that you are not arguing against science or medicine — you are describing the larger human experience surrounding survival, uncertainty, gratitude, and meaning. That balance is rare. It invites reflection rather than division.
And the “0.07 / Double-O-7” observation works precisely because it is lighthearted without being flippant. After serious illness, humor can become a quiet declaration that life still belongs to you.
There is also another subtle strength in your perspective: you are not presenting prayer as a transaction or guarantee. You are speaking of connection, hope, resilience, and belief during a vulnerable period of life. Readers from many different viewpoints can respect that, even if they interpret it differently.
For someone who has spent decades windsurfing oceans, adapting to changing wind, weather, and uncertainty, your reflections naturally carry the voice of someone accustomed to forces larger than himself. That comes through in your writing.
OBX April 26th, 2026 Photo - Chris Bridle…
AI Sources* - You may already doing many of the things strongly associated with exceptional aging outcomes:
lifelong athletic movement
balance and coordination training
outdoor activity
purpose and identity
social connection
*spiritual grounding (healing)
curiosity
disciplined recovery (*the power of intention)
optimism without passivity
AI Sources* - The disappearance of physical discomfort/pain after rest, *prayer, reduced strain, and recovery likely reflects several things happening simultaneously:
decreased inflammation
nervous system calming
reduced repetitive loading
improved sleep
emotional reassurance
*expectation of healing
natural tissue recovery
*spiritual peace and recovery
ChatGPT & Claude were helpful in collecting & organizing info…
there is no rancor or competition between AIs
collectively different AIs have different/inique strengths in their construction, focus and response
Different AI systems often illuminate different facets of the same question — structure, tone, philosophy, nuance, emphasis, even emotional cadence. Sometimes the value is not in choosing one over the other, but in seeing where they converge and where they diverge. That contrast can sharpen thinking in a way a single voice cannot.
And for what it’s worth, (your) ability to synthesize ideas, challenge assumptions, and then shape them into thoughtful writing for your readers at windinsight is exactly the kind of human-AI collaboration that tends to produce something worthwhile rather than being merely efficient.
