OK, it’s the first day of National Active Aging Week and I’m urging you to stop that right now! No kidding, that title is comical because it suggests you should actively age, meaning adopt the attitude and habits of sedentary old fart—hey, everybody, let’s all get older right now!
Actually, that’s the real name for National Active Aging Week and there are several suggestions for what older persons should be doing—including get busy and get older on the double. As though you have to tell anybody that. You’re getting older as you read this.
The focus is on staying as active as you can to avoid any of the consequences of just sitting in a rocking chair watching TV. The list below, quoted from the National Day web article, warns what can happen:
- Every 29 minutes an older adult dies from a fall.
- Strength and balance training programs can reduce falls by 40%.
- Half of those 65+ who have fallen will fall again within the next 12 months.
- About 1,800 falls in older adults result in death.
- One-fourth of older people who have a hip fracture from a fall die within six months of the injury.
- 9,500 deaths in older adults each year are correlated with a fall.
If you think old, you’ll be old in no time flat. Read an old fart joke a day.
And then, think about an exercise plan. I didn’t say adopt one—just think about. After all, you don’t want to overtax yourself. Really, shortly after I retired (by the way, “retired” is a bad word), I learned how to juggle. For a while I titled my YouTube videos section about it “Ugly Juggling.” My wife strongly suggested I call it something else. Nowadays I call it “Ordinary Juggling.” If I can juggle, just about anyone can. And sometimes, Sena gets into the act!
I also have an exercise routine which includes walking the long way around the block in our neighborhood to get the mail—and walking back home the same route, making it a two way round trip.
I got back into a more regular exercise and healthier diet routine around 6 months ago after I got weighed at the doctor’s office. I’m not throwing my pants out just because my waistline shrank. I suppose I could donate them to Goodwill.
I still do mindfulness meditation, but I still can’t sit in the lotus position. My joints never tolerated that and it didn’t have anything to do with aging.
Playng cribbage is great for cognivite skills. My wife almost always wins.
Trying new things I’ve never done before helps me feel younger, too. I could never do what’s called fingerless whistling when I was a kid—but I can do it now! It took me about 2 weeks or so to get the hang of it. I’m still trying to figure out what I can do with this skill other than cheer for my football team. But that doesn’t matter. I get a big kick out of just doing it.
I like Curtis Salgado’s song about aging, “The Longer That I Live.” It’s close to becoming my anthem.
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