“On or off the road, I’ve got to exercise just about every day. If I didn’t work to keep in good shape, I couldn’t tour the way I do, or sing nearly as long every night.
In high school, I played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track. And one thing I can tell you, when Jesus said “Love thy neighbor,” there was no such thing as high school football.
When you get older, you’ve got to find a way to replace all the sports you can’t do anymore. On the road I play golf or I jog. More than once, I’ve gone jogging in a town I don’t know and had to knock on a stranger’s door and ask directions to get back to where I started.
I still box a bit, too. I’ve got a speed bag hanging in the bedroom of the bus, and I can put on some gloves and work out on it when we’ve got a long drive. Trying to throw a roundhouse when Gator is changing lanes on the highway either keeps me on my toes or dumps me on my ass.
I feel a lot healthier now than I did thirty years ago and that tells me that thirty years ago, I was pretty messed up.
I’ve seen a lot of guys hit their seventies and decide they ought to just sit down for a while. The problem is, the longer you sit, the harder it is to get back up again. It used to upset me when I’d meet a fat doctor with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other who told me I should give up pot or that running wasn’t good for a guy my age. There are some good doctors out there, but if they tell you not to exercise, the first thing I’d do is change doctors.”
— Willie Nelson
The Tao of Willie
a Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart
Willie Nelson, with Turk PipkinÂ
Willie Nelson’s bus and his bike.
Lindalee, did you take the bus/bike picture? It’s a great angle so you can see the side and back of the bus.
No, Deb, fan Katie took this picture of Willie’s bus, and Willie’s bike, at Biloxi, Mississippi, on November 2, 2007.