The attitudes in the United States toward aging are disgraceful and unique in the world community. There is no respect for wisdom and experience. If older people are not able to care for themselves, both physically and financially, they are shipped off to retirement centers, nursing homes, convalescent homes; any place that will warehouse them and keep them out of the way. The mania for being young, beautiful, and thin is a shameful obsession in this country.
Aging is part of the process of existing. Everything ages, and things ( except people) increase in value as it does. The instant you take your first breath at birth, you begin to age. It's also called "living". The question is: How will you handle it? I know people who are old at 20. They sit waiting for life to happen to them. No energy, no ambition, no curiousity about anything, no life....just breathing blobs. What a waste.
The consequences of many physical injuries are beginning to take their toll. Years of doing totally sedentary work at a desk and computer are making this worse. My body moves slower, and I no longer have the muscle tone and stamina I once did. It annoys me no end. The aches and pains also are a nuisance. So? Am I going to sit even longer and encourage age to control me? Not hardly!
I'm a firm believer in the statement, "If you don't use it, you lose it". I've kept my brain active and alive by constantly challenging it to do more, different and increasingly complex things. It's kept the electrical impulses firing at great speed. You can do the same. Don't develop brain rot! Use it.
It would be foolish to think that my body will get any better. I'm responsible for its condition. No one else. I can't afford a personal trainer. I don't have access to a pool for water therapy. I don't like gyms and all the beautiful, intimidating, hard bodies there. I don't like the way I'm beginning to feel, so I'm doing something about it. You can too. I can walk, and I am. There are many excellent exercise video tapes for older people. I'm using them. It only takes a little discipline, and a lot of desire to reverse physical deterioration. I'm the only one who can do this. No one can or will do it for me. I like myself. I like my life. I like what I do. I plan to keep at it for a long time.
If you enjoy sitting passively by and supporting your local doctor, please don't let me interfere. Not me. Yes, I'm aging. Growing old? NEVER!