A Simple Dose of Reality

A Simple Dose of Reality

For quite some time now, I have assumed I’d somehow be exempt from the usual diseases and aches and pains associated with aging. I jogged, I told myself. Worked out. I at least tried to eat well; I take vitamins and supplements that should help keep me healthy.  Right? Afraid not.  

All that came crashing down when I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. When I asked the doctor what caused it, he said simply, “old age.”

So much for my assumptions, huh?

To put it mildly, I have been deluding myself. I should’ve known that I was certainly vulnerable.  After all, I had stage 3 stomach cancer in 1998.  That’s pretty vulnerable. Let’s face facts....for many years in my life I didn’t take good care of myself.  Smoke and drank—probably too much.  Maybe way too much. That takes a toll, and it’s certainly not something I’m proud of. More than likely, the cancer and its treatment continues to take a toll on my body. I’ll pay a price for those years of abuse—both physically and mentally. I wonder now if this afib is one of the prices I’m paying.

But I don’t feel old I say to myself.  But as a high school classmate friend recently told me, “I don’t feel old either, but my meds tell me I am.”

But wait, there’s more.

I’m also pre diabetic. Another doctor, another verdict.  He didn’t, though, make a big fuss about it.  “If you’re not diabetic,” he shrugged, “you’re pre-diabetic.”  What?

Thanks God for YouTube.  Video after video shows just how serious it can be and how frequently it moves into diabetes.  Plus, I know how bad diabetes is for your overall health.  I didn’t need to hear or read that, though.  I’ve seen the ravages diabetes has sown on several of my friends and relatives.

What can be done now? Maybe we all finally wake up one day and ask ourselves that question.  How can we delay the usual aches, pains, and diseases associated with aging. And am I willing to pay the price?

I read a book recently that explained exactly why we need exercise to stay healthy as we age—Younger Next Year. It’s a great book and I heartily recommend it. It points out that 70% of all the ills and aches and pains we associate with aging are “voluntary”.  That’s right.  You can skip a lot of that, if you’ll only pay the price.  And that price? Exercise. 

Why do we need to exercise?  Because, that's the way we're made. That's the way we've evolved. 

Ponce de Leon was right.  There is a fountain of youth.  Only we call it exercise.  That’s a good place for us to start.

Reality versus the joy of youth.

Everyday, it gets tougher to watch the evening news.  Each day, the screen is filled with devastating pictures of Ukrainian buildings bombed out by the Russians. Or with the heart-wrenching pictures of fathers saying good bye to their families at train stations or perhaps, the Polish border.  Many say they know they’ll never see their families again.

The Russians are bombing maternity wards and cancer hospitals.  And we watch.  Some still pictures remind many of the Nazis and World War II. 

Like I said, it’s getting tougher.

That’s one reason I so enjoyed watching the NCAA basketball selection show this week.  It was a break that we on the other side of the world get to enjoy. We’re not being bombed. The network’s remote shots showed the sheer joy of teams that actually got into the tournament.  The players cheered with delight and hugged each other as an entire stadium of fans watched with delight behind them.  They took “selfies” of the television screen that showed their schools in their particular bracket.

Of course, many of these teams will lose their very first game and go home.  They may know that deep in their hearts, but hope reigns supreme.  They’re in the game.

Hope brings us joy and a determination to “win” the game.  We can dream; we can hope.

We’re in the big show, but tomorrow we’ll say a prayer for Ukraine…and hope.