I’m a true believer in the saying “you’re only as old as you feel” I do feel physically pretty good, and I try to pay attention my health. The fact is I’m not 27 and my body is starting to remind me of the fact I’m 47. Yes I can do this many push ups and that many pull ups, but as we age, no matter what we do, our body starts to break down a bit. The other day I went to the dentist, for a teeth cleaning and check up. According to my brilliant dentist I have a chance of developing gum disease, which is an age related thing. Or my hair is getting thinner every year, and the bags under my eyes seem to be getting bigger.
What are we supposed to do about these kind of things?
I brush my teeth at least 3 times a day and floss everyday. Well the dentist tells me it could be genetics. Yeah but I exercised 3 times last week and meditated 5 out of 7 days. The dentist looked at me strangely and said this is the part of getting old you can’t control. Boy that sounds just like when my eye doctor told me the scar tissue on my right eye has to do with genetics and progressively got worse as I aged. My problem is not “macular degeneration” but most of us can look forward to that as we get older, since it affects ten million Americans every year. “Even if we eat a lot of carrots and exercise and eat a lot of carrots??” Well the carrots might help delay the process but it pretty much inevitable as you get older the brilliant doctor explained. Okay maybe getting old does suck. Getting old means plainly that your body hates you. Especially if you haven’t taken care of it. But I have somewhat taken care of it, it’s just those genetics and getting old.
Lets look at the positives of old age…..
Well there is the fact that the little annoying things that used to bother me, I give two shits about now. Because I’m older and wiser. And then there’s that study from the University of Southern Denmark that found men experience fewer hangover symptoms as they get older. I have honestly tested this theory and think, the older and wiser me knows if I hydrate thoroughly while drinking, and have a good food base going, this will prevent the dreaded hangover. The younger me could give a shit about hydrating, and eating, that cuts into the partying. One of the great benefits of aging is gaining perspective. When your younger everything can feel like an emergency,but as you age and gain more life experience, you become better at differentiating between major and minor issues. I definitely like a recent study conducted by the British Medical Journal found that 80% of 50-to-90-year-olds are sexually active. Senility and boredom appear to be the main culprits, although performance-enhancing drugs like Viagra and Cialis have also played an important role in allowing many seniors to get it up and keep it up. We’ll be the first to admit that the idea of bumping uglies with an octogenarian may not seem very appealing at this stage in your life, but we’re sure you’ll be singing a different tune in your 70s when you realize how little else there is to do at your retirement home. Just don’t forget to play it safe, though.
Yes I’m only 47 and plan on living another 47 years. Let’s see that would make me 94. If I’m bitching about being 47, at 94 I should be a real spitfire.
“Every silver linings got a tough of grey”-Grateful Dead