Paperwork: If the body is a machine, then every day fight the rust

Ernest Andrus is already planning his next birthday in 11 months.

He is inviting all of us to the Mt. Shasta mall in Redding, California, on Aug. 19, 2025.

He wants you to join him as he walks exactly 1.02 miles. This August he walked 1.01 miles. See the progression?

It’s about his age. Ernie just turned 101.

I wrote about Ernie in 2016 after he finished a little jog across the country that took 2.75 years and clocked 2,631.08 miles. He was 93 when he finished.

Ernie is a former Navy medical corpsman and his mission was to raise awareness for the LST, Landing Ship Tank, and the role in played in World War II.

I’m part of a pack of more than 8,000 across the country who follow Ernie on his Facebook page. He has inspired many.

He has never stopped moving – now more walking than jogging. But still moving. And there’s a message in that.

I’ve been thinking about Ernie since a message landed in my inbox from motivator James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits.”

I get monthly inspiration from Clear including this quote from theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard:

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. Even if one were to walk for one’s health and it were constantly one station ahead – I would still say: Walk!

“Besides, it is also apparent that in walking one constantly gets as close to well-being as possible, even if one does not quite reach it – but by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Health and salvation can be found only in motion ... if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”

Motion. Movement. It’s easy to take that basic ability for granted. And Kierkegaard wisely notes what’s next after sitting still.

There’s a lot being said now about the unhealthy habit of sitting. (I think about this every time I sit at my computer. One day I should clock all the hours I sit or slouch.)

I am surrounded by cheerleaders and experts. I should be encouraged by Ernest Andrus, a true pacesetter, and inspired by Kierkegaard.

Plus I have my wife and her frequent encouraging words: “Get off the couch and move!”

The key word seems to be “move.” Not just the body but the brain.

Keep it all moving. Everything. Move it or lose it. So true.

In fact, on my next birthday, like Ernie, I pledge to walk 77 … hmm, not miles … let’s say steps. Yep, 77 steps.

And I have several months to work up to it. I can do it.

Sorry, I could not resist. I had to make a joke. But I shouldn’t.

Truth is, whatever your age, the more you’re not moving, the more you’re going nowhere. Fast.

Take a little walk, if you’re able. You’ll see what I mean.

And if you’re not able, then you already understand better than I the importance of movement.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.