The Oaks at Ojai (California)
Age is Just a Number (That keeps getting bigger!)

We are all, hopefully and constantly, doing our best to "do the do's" and "not do the don'ts" in order to pursue our own health most effectively. We are theoretically making necessary adjustments to our habits and lifestyle, reducing, managing, and releasing our stress, and getting enough sleep. Guess what. We're STILL getting older! I don't want this article to be a downer, but let's talk about it.

Age is NOT ageless! There are effects to growing older that we do not want to live in denial about. We DO want to learn from the mistakes of the generations ahead of us, and observe the effects, good and bad, of lifestyle choices our elders made. We KNOW we need to be more active and less sedentary. We UNDERSTAND the value of eating nutritionally, and avoiding processed and refined foods. I am not saying give up or give in, only that in spite of our great choices, we STILL are getting older and want to clearly assess the effects.

One of the great frustrations of the aging is having a clear mind and an uncooperative body. (This is probably worse than the opposite). Chronic pain can create severe limitations that for some make daily life a true challenge. I remember my grandmother, who lived to 96 years, found the last decade somewhat cumbersome. She was not necessarily depressed or negative about it, just realistic- the days passed slowly because she was not able to DO the things that had been enjoyable to her in past years. She felt that she had "outlived" her usefulness and was no longer living as "well" as she had before.

We who are still in our 50's - 70's are aging in what is arguably the first generation that has been obsessed with staying "young", believing that we can transform ourselves endlessly with no price tag for the passing of years. The great buzz phrase for sales and marketing of many products is "Age Defying". We spend a small fortune on pills, creams, surgeries to try to stop what is, forgive me, a natural process- aging. There is a balance to strike somewhere between looking our best, feeling our best, and pushing the envelope of realism.

Don't get me wrong- I am raging against the same aging machine, painfully aware that in spite of my Peter Pan heart, my body IS getting older! I am not the same as I was a decade ago! I am personally trying to balance doing my part with what's really going on physically, chemically, and mentally. Using my own 52 year old body as "lab", I am observing that yes, there have been changes each decade in what my body is able to do. In some ways it's WAY better. Mentally and emotionally I am more calm and stable than I have ever been (darn the short term memory loss however. Maybe that's why I'm calm. I don't remember what happened! LOL). I like myself more than I ever have and feel more like "the me" I was meant to be than ever before. So, please don't think I am being negative, or taking myself off any hooks here. I am however noticing that my joints and muscles are a little more sore a little more often. I am tired earlier at night than I ever have been. I could extend the list, but you have your own, right?

Over half of the over 65 year old current population will spend time in a nursing home before death due to mental or physical disability. Most of this same generation will live LONGER than their parents. If this is true, we must be in process to make our old age the best old age available to us NOW. The upside of this is noting the great minds and contributions of many in their 80's & 90's, like Elliott Carter, an active composer when he walked onto the stage of Carnegie Hall for his centennial tribute in 2008; Betty White, a bravura comedian who wows audiences at 88; John Paul Stevens, the author of brilliant judicial opinions until the day he retired from the Supreme Court at 90. They may be exceptions, but they are STILL exceptional! I'd love to be exceptional and functional at 90! I hope and pray that I avoid disabling diseases of the body and mind as I age.

So bottom line for us is to do WHAT we can as VIGOROUSLY as we can WHILE we still can and in the process, accept the process- it IS just a number, but by golly, it DOES keep getting bigger!! Don't know "where to start?" Somewhere. Start somewhere, today. DO something- get out and enjoy!

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