Saturday, January 22, 2011

Aging friends.

I was on the Yelp message board the other day and this stupid punk who knew absolutely nothing about me referred to me as an "Old Dude." WTF! Who the hell is he calling old? Can he do long division or boolean algebra in his head? Did he run a marathon, climb Mt. Whitney or complete the Death Ride? Who the fuck does he think he is? I'll show that ignorant bigot old!
Age is a state of mind, and this mind has not even lived half it's life yet! Still, I know people within a year or two of my age who are very old. I even know people younger than me who are pretty old.
Their bodies are aging they've begun to use terms like: "I'm too old for that." They have allowed their mind to age as well. While their physical appearance has changed in ways that might preclude them from being considered for some activities, it is their mind that is the biggest downfall.
I'm 50. As a 50 year old, I understand that some things are beyond my capabilities. Things like joining the Ultimate Fighting Championships; racing the Tour de France; or running the Boston Marathon. Actually, running the Boston Marathon might be within my capabilities if I put my mind to it. Dating women in their twenties is out of the question and anywhere South of 37 is borderline. Mainly because I look too old, but I've seen plenty of guys a lot older than me with women young enough to be their granddaughters. Even though I know people running roller derby who are my age, I'm not going to do it. The list is long and the reasons are many. We all have our own (list).
When you get older, things change. Your metabolism slows down. Most folks gain some weight. Why is debatable. Do they gain weight from watching TV, or do they watch more TV because they gain weight? Who knows and who cares? We're going to get older and these changes are going to happen. We can't help that, but we can decide how we deal with these changes.
The way I chose to deal with it was to take Kaiser Permanente's message to heart. 50 is the new 30! So I've been doing a bunch of things thirty year olds do. That was my choice.
What will be your's? The options are many. Are heavy doses of TV going to be part of your aging regimen? Drinking every day until you finally succumb to the ravages of time?
The time is now to think of our mortality. We are all going to die. It could happen tomorrow in a parking lot. A flower pot could fall off a 4th floor ledge and crack your head open on the way to lunch Monday. My uncle Homer came home one day when he was 86 years old and sat on the couch. He then said to my aunt: "Carmen, honey. I'm feeling really tired." Then his head cocked off to the side and he was dead. We don't know when the time will come, but we can be proactive about how we age.
Get healthy. Get some exercise at least three days a week. Have sex! Commit to dying in some way that you have no control over...like a meteor strike or being hit by a chunk of blue ice falling from the sky. Whatever you do, go down with a fight!

BE the 70 year old everyone wants to DO!


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