On “Getting Older” as an Excuse
Let’s Take Those 2 Words Out of Our Vocabulary!
A long time ago, I could stay up late, eat and drink until the wee hours, and then get up and go to work feeling fine. Late-night socializing was a big part of both my career and social life, and I lived this way for many years without a hitch. I remember in my late 30s or early 40s when the mornings began to slow down. And despite pushing myself to be in the office very early as usual, I could feel the effects of the night before for the first few hours of the day. I found that morning exercise helped a lot, so I began walking the 2 miles to work and then began swimming every morning at a local pool. I attributed the morning malaise to “getting older,” assuming my body was not able to handle the stress and activity of my life as well as it used to. I began to push myself more with exercise to counteract how I was feeling. It worked for a while.
But it wasn’t until my late 50s, when I started my current journey of health and longevity, that I learned the real reasons I had been experiencing morning malaise. It wasn’t about getting old (at least not yet, and at 76 I have no morning malaise like I used to then). It was about not being aware of the stressors I was subjecting my body to that were making me feel slow and old, and not understanding what real health could be and how it could be enhanced so I would feel vibrant and energized.
Yes, things change as we get older. Our bodies do start to weaken, and our immune systems aren’t as robust as they used to be. I’ve encountered many people who feel these changes, label them as “getting older,” and resign themselves to whatever happens next without taking the time to learn the real underlying issues that are at work—as well as what they can do to counteract them. It’s possible that these people were never really proactive about their health to begin with, and “getting older” becomes an excuse to continue that behavior without questioning it or taking the time to become aware of an alternative. Unfortunately, when real aging starts to kick in when they’re in their 60s and 70s, they haven’t prepared themselves for this phase of life. They begin to encounter much lower energy and unexpected health challenges—challenges that are based as much on neglect as anything else. I’ve heard folks double down on the “getting older” excuse and begin to resent what otherwise could be these wonderful, life-enhancing, profound, and meaningful years.
The Underlying Truth
I was fortunate to have done enough exercise in my 40s and 50s to find myself at close to 60 with little to complain about health-wise. Yet the experience of my first detox was a wake-up call, and starting to exercise in higher-than expected heart rate zones was an eye opener to what I had been missing in my somewhat haphazard exercise and diet routines. I also realized that I had built up a level of toxins in my body that were robbing me of energy and healing power, and that my lifestyle was putting a load on my immune system that was sapping the very healing that is necessary to prolong healthy life as we age. Thanks to my “aha-moment” on the commuter train years ago, I made many big changes to my lifestyle that I talk about in my book.
Did you know that lifestyle is at the heart of most preventable health issues? Lifestyle choices include exercising versus being sedentary, eating a nutritious diet of “real food” versus consuming processed foods, getting enough restful sleep versus getting too much or too little sleep, and smoking versus not smoking. Lifestyle is also the main factor that promotes recovery and healing. For millions of years our bodies developed the hard-wired patterns of effort and rest: expending effort for a portion of the day looking for and preparing food and resting while eating and sleeping. Our bodies still prefer this pattern. Too much sedentary rest, or comfort, works against us, and too much effort without rest does the same. The steady, daily rhythm of effort and rest is still what our bodies thrive on.
Modern life has crushed this rhythm. Poor health and low energy follow, due to a lifestyle rhythm that doesn’t support a robust immune system. If your immune system isn’t in good shape, the toxic build-up in your body leads to the preconditions for chronic disease, which can include arterial plaque in the heart or brain, cancer, or diabetes. And as I found out, toxic buildup was making my joints stiff, clogging my nose and sinuses, and reducing my energy levels, which all contributed to a lower quality of life.
Stiffness is a perfect example. Morning stiffness is a common complaint in later-life years, but if you ignore it by saying that it’s all part of getting older and there’s nothing you can do about it, you become a victim of it, and it only gets worse. On the other hand, if you begin your mornings with a stretching routine to combat stiffness, you can keep it in check and work on it every day, so it doesn’t become chronic. I can tell you from experience that, with just a bit of stretching, the morning stiffness almost always goes away.
Health as a Choice, Not a Constraint
If you don’t want your health to become a bigger constraint than it needs to be in later life, you will stop using any form of “getting older” as an excuse not to take care of yourself. The odd thing I’ve observed is that some folks know their choice to not take care of themselves will bring more suffering to them later on, but they do it anyway. For some reason, they are averse to being proactive about their health.
So, no matter what age you are, begin to find ways in your later years to focus on not getting ill and enjoying this pinnacle of life in a way that is meaningful for you. Don’t brand yourself with those awful 2 words, getting older. Doing is not only an excuse, it’s a mindset. Yes, you will encounter real health challenges as you get older. But if you start to look after your health now—no matter how young or old you are—you can mitigate and even avoid many health challenges, and you will be creating a lifestyle that supports keeping yourself active and healthy longer. Keeping your body in good health is much easier than fixing it later. The attitude of “getting older” as an excuse has no place in the world of later-life robust health. Let’s take those 2 words out of our vocabulary for good!
