Independent Living: Who Will Write The Handbook On Aging?

The traditional image of old age is one of frailty, weakness, and physical inertia.  You know, the grandmother in her rocking chair image.  You may be surprised but today’s grandmother is a little different.  She could very well be wearing bright colored sweats (ala Hot in Cleveland) or turning in her knitting needles for a squash racket.

 

Older people, even those who have never exercised before, are capable of becoming stronger and more physically fit.  Physical fitness enables older people to function better in everyday life, as well as living longer and feeling better.   Time conspires to rob you of our strength and capabilities, but now we have the power to fight back.

 

The key is motivation.  The motivation comes from wanting to remain healthy, active, and independent.  These are all lofty goals but you have to understand that it takes work.  Unless you take action, the older you get the less physically fit we will be.  When you were younger physical fitness was pretty much a given.  Unfortunately that period of grace didn’t last long.  It all happens so gradually that you don’t even notice that downward spiral until you reach middle age.  The good news is that you can do something about it; you don’t have to age in the usual manner.  Severe physical decline does not have to happen to you.

 

There are a number of books written to prepare you for retirement, but sometimes I wonder if we shouldn’t be given a handbook on aging.  Every other phase was life outlined for you.   You knew what supplies you needed, and what you had to do to pass on to the next class (phase or age) and what was coming up next.  I guess the experts feel that by the time you reach 50 or beyond, that you already know where you are going and how you are going to get there.  I think we all know that this isn’t necessarily true, especially if we are striving to beat the image and bolster the reality. 

 

Do you fight to improve and maintain or do you just let life go by, and then wonder what happened? If you are adaptable, and most of us are, you figure out how to manage as you go along.  The frailty of old age is largely reversible.  Success is determined by good old-fashioned hard work.  It is good to remember that you are still a work in progress.

 

Physical fitness is the key, but it isn’t a matter of toning and shaping in order to fit into a new dress.  The new physical fitness is about the rest of your life.  So, what will it be, the traditional rocking chair image or the real you?  If we are expected to write our own handbook and create our own reality, we had better get busy.  We need to educate ourselves and get ready for the most important years of our lives.