READY...SET...GET OLD!

Good health at any age is important

Aging is a son of a gun, folks, I'm here to tell you. Well, I'm not exactly an actual senior citizen yet; I am a disabled veteran who is right on the half-century mark but effectively deals with most of the things seniors do insofar as mobility and diminished mental facilities (e.g. recall). And, it's not getting better so I have to live with it, and it is what it is at this point.
Someone got mad at me not so long ago for using 'it is what it is.' I don't know why, but if anyone reading this gets upset, let me tell you what that means: it's not going to get any better and it's as good as it's going to get and it isn't horrible. Yep, that's a good, tight definition there.

So, my head got beat around pretty good when I was a soldier and I received multiple concussions. At first it was no big deal, the years went on and the effects of the concussions weren't too much at first. I had some tremors and a few seizures, which I didn't know were seizures at the time, and I just went on. Then, as I neared my mid-40s, the wheels fell off of the memory, tremor and seizure thing pretty good.

Today, I cannot take my memory for granted. I have to carry a notebook with me at all times or use my smartphone to record things as they happen: write down addresses, important phone numbers, key instructions, appointments. Because though my pride wants to say I can remember things, my brain is laying it all right out there and saying it can't. And, you know what they say about pride going before the fall; that stuff is as true a .45 caliber pistol at 15 feet. It's also as deadly.

Pride and vanity amounts to foolishness (said the fool who was so proud and vain in his life). Still, the Lord dealt with me by sending me out into the wastelands of the United States as what amounted to a wandering beggar for my sins. I just hope I've done enough to not have to go back to that ever again. One way not to is to cut it out with the pride nonsense.

Then there are my bad knees, which are pretty bad and they both have to be replaced. I'm lucky to be walking and am grateful to the Lord for having the mobility I do. But, I have to make use of those knees for now. So, how do I do that? Right off the bat, I plan my life accordingly.

I live less than a mile from where I work and there are paved roads with wide, nice sidewalks between where I live and there. My second-floor apartment has an elevator that goes down to the floor. I schedule my transportation needs around the facility shuttle that goes here and there for residents. I do not exceed the limits of my body's ability for any reason other than a legitimate emergency, and I stay in regular contact with my health care providers, among them my general practitioner and physical medicine doctors.

There's a laundry list of other junk that's wrong with me, but let's keep it to the concussions and the knees (I wish). Because there are a number of seniors who have recollection problems and mobility issues. The other stuff is kind of specific to me and most seniors don't have those issues.

However, I do not any longer say, 'Oh, but I used to be able to do this or that.' Those days are just yellowed pages of a history book that neither I nor anyone else cares about anymore. It is so much more refreshing and gratifying living in the world as it presents itself now. Everyone wants to be young again. No one likes being older than younger. But, here is the stone cold fact: Younger people are more athletic than older people, by and large and with some exceptions. Nevertheless, if you play baseball and bat against Sandy Koufax when he was 22 you're probably not going to get a hit. Take the same situation and you're batting against Sandy Koufax when he's 55 -- well, your odds have gone up immeasurably.

Is it time to rethink eating habits?

Remember how you used to be able to get upset? Rant and rave, scream and shout? Throw balled up napkins at the television when your football team gave up a touchdown? Well, today, that could significantly contribute to your blood pressure rising and that behavior isn't a great idea from a health perspective.

Old age or infirmity makes us become better people or, if we don't, we die. It is a strange kind of natural selection. If someone is dumb enough not to take care of themselves after a certain age -- well -- they get very sick, or injured, or die. I don't want any part of any one of those things.

Let's talk about eating unhealthy (e.g. junk food), smoking and drinking alcohol...yeah, it's so obvious I don't even need to say the words. Go to the damn doctor and let the man or woman do their job and make the necessary recommendations and referrals to qualified nutritionists and other professionals.

As an older person, life has to change. You have to have a plan for staying vital, because a "...failure to prepare is preparing to fail," in the words of the immortal UCLA Coach John Wooden. There is no reason why older Americans cannot be healthy and vital into their 80s, but it will not happen by accident or good genes. It will happen because someone is living a predictable lifestyle, planned just for them by their medical team. And, that might mean exercise, vitamins, physical therapy, naps, rest, medications, increased hydration...whatever.

Of course, there is always what is sure, as an option. What is sure is that, if someone does not drop their bad habits at a certain point in their lives, those bad habits might just claim their lives. And, for anyone who thinks that is a good idea there are therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists that could probably help you find a better solution for yourself than letting yourself fall into a pile of spare parts.

No one is in the workplace at a certain point. OK, that is a whole other part of the world. The work world exists on a whole other planet than we are on. The battle of the fittest is certainly strong and going on there. And, those people go through a whole other set of priorities than older people who are out of the workforce.

So, if you're comparing yourself to these people: Stop! There is a battle of the fittest going on with seniors too. He who retires longest, with the greatest health, comfort and quality of life wins! OK, now that retirement has been made appropriately competitive for some, let's get the idea across that the foundation of a healthy mind, body and soul begins with your body.

Just because we get older doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the same things, albeit in a different way, than before. And, frankly, some of the bad habits from our youth or even middle age were heading for the scrap-heap anyway -- so now is as good a time as any to get rid of them.

I'm not giving you more of the same 'blah, blah, blah,' I'm saying it straight -- there is nothing magical about restoring yourself to the best health you can enjoy. Go to your darn doctor, listen to what they say, do what they say and, of course, if you want a second opinion then by all means. But, these people go to school for quite a while to know what they're talking about and I plan on making mine bust a sweat because I'm asking so many questions.

Any of us only has one life. One body. One spirit. One mind. It's time to be positive and stop self-pity if there is any of that going on about getting older. You can take hold of your aging process somewhat (God has an awful lot to say about it too, after all) and get positive about helping yourself. Of course, by helping yourself you help everyone around you also.

As I come to this part of the road, I look down the path some -- as much as I can see. And, if I do not get myself together for this part of the journey, it's not going to be much fun...let's just say it like that. Yet, after busting my ass for more than 30 years pushing myself to the absolute limit physically and psychologically there has to be a payoff before I go to the dirt -- besides from being pushed around by a lot of kids in senior facilities that could care less about me than how much they can get for me from my Social Security before I die.

I worked in places like that, not too long ago, so no one needs to argue against that point to me. You'd be more successfully arguing with a wall. In retirement, as in the rest of life, the only one who is going to make sure that you are taken care of, for sure, is yourself and maybe your spouse. If you are very lucky, members of your family (and God bless the good ones).

I wish the best to everyone as usual, and hope that someone gets something out of these little rants of mine. Of course, if not, I really couldn't care less. You see, I'm too old to be aggravated about anything; that asks for energy I would rather spend elsewhere. But, all the best!