Well, I suppose that’s not an entirely true statement because, as the Olde English saying goes, “Time and tide wait for no man.” But, how a man invests his time, be he young and spry with the dream of endless horizons or longer in the tooth and comfortably waiting for the end to come, is entirely his prerogative.
If a man were to take the best of both characters, particularly the dreaming, thinking, and doing of a younger man, then temper it with the wisdom and measured care of a man of many years; he would have cracked the code to squeeze the most and very best juice out of his later years. That’s the course I am sailing now, and the satisfied smile is genuine.
Food was the first problem I needed to solve. Food is the fuel we put into our bodies, and no part of our physical and mental being is unaffected by what we put in it.
The answer was simple. I stopped eating for social reasons, tradition or comfort as I had been. I started to eat what my body needed to function at its very best, so I could feel and perform my very best. Now I like to eat things that don’t create health problems.
I also feel best when I am moving and making my body work by exercising every day. By that, I mean consistently pushing myself through intense workouts that test my physical and mental limits. I train hard, but it took me some time to build up to that. I started slow, and my workouts never made me so sore that it was painful, just a little stiff for a day or two. Every couple of weeks or when I felt I should, I would do a little more, do it faster, or do something different, so my body had to adapt to the work by getting stronger, faster, more flexible, more agile, leaner, etc.
Our bodies are adaptive organisms. No matter how old you are, if you are alive, your body will do its best to adapt to whatever exercise you do. So if we consistently eat sufficient nutrient-rich foods that don’t create digestive problems, hydrate sufficiently, maintain an upbeat, grateful, and hopeful attitude, then sleep well enough to recover from workouts, progress keeps happening.
There is no such thing as being too old to exercise and improve; there is only thinking that you are. No matter what age you are, consistency is critical. And that means consistent eating, hydrating, resting, and exercising, and consistently being grateful and positive about the process.
Setting realistic goals is also an absolute necessity. At sixty-two years old, my goals are agility, strength, speed, flexibility, and for the viewing pleasure of my gorgeous bride, looking like I take pride in my appearance.
No matter where we are in life, we need challenges and hard work to feel accomplished, worthwhile, and vibrantly alive. Comfort is important after the work is done when rest and recovery become the priority, but each day should involve the blessing of work first. It’s how we are wired and will be until we die.
So never buy into the lie that you are too old, or it’s too much work. God didn’t design our bodies to be sedentary, he built us to move and when we stop, our bodies start to deteriorate. If you are still breathing and moving, you are young enough to benefit from exercise. Be a rebel by spending your years feeling much younger, healthier, and living life fuller and more productive than you should.
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Thank you,
Terry
