You have emotions that arise so naturally, so spontaneously that they seem pure and unassailable and right. Justified. Nothing to be ashamed of.

But life is rarely that clean and neat for very long. Sometimes emotions are strong and automatic and still you suspect that they are, well, suspect. You’re confused by how you feel, like a teenager experiencing love or a grown man who just doesn’t want to donate to a cause that is transparently worthy and important. You feel pulled in several directions, and that is how this article about ageless athletes makes me feel.

Look at them: Martina Navratilova tearing it up on the tennis court well past the time when a person should be collecting prize money (outside of a casino). Or 64-year-old Eileen Philippa “Phil” Raschker, “who holds 68 gold medals at the World Masters Athletics Championships and 22 World Masters Records for both outdoor and indoor events” and is still very actively competing. And triathlete Laura Sophiea (57). And Ed Whitlock, who ran a 3:25 marathon at age 80 and…you get the idea.

In case you don’t, this is the idea: There are a lot of old folks who are remarkably fit.

So where is the emotional confusion? Because instead of feeling inspired by these stories we feel annoyed.

Certainly, we are all happy for people who are doing so well. OK, and maybe we feel envious that they are clearly better than we are. (That right there? That’s one of the unassailable, unquestionable, totally pure emotions.) We also probably feel great respect and admiration.

But it’s a stone in the shoe…a scratchy tag in a new shirt…unlined wool pants…to be told that I should feel inspired. Because, what if I don’t? What if I think that the success of these athletes doesn’t constitute a miraculous triumph over the supposedly huge hurdle that is turning 50 or 60 or whatever? What if I think that it is a triumph of hard work and discipline, which is always impressive but not exactly inspirational.

Too many olds have achieved too much. The emotion is drained off. And that should make us deliriously happy.

It’s like this: seeing “blade runner” Oscar Pistorius sprinting toward the finish line in the Olympics was inspirational. It made you catch your breath and believe in new possibilities.  Because he was the first, he was an inspiration. Everyone that comes after will be slightly less inspirational until it becomes old-hat. Boring. Ordinary. And that lack of emotion will be something to cheer about.

Image: YouTube screen grab, post-race interview with (then) 79-year-old marathoner Ed Whitlock.