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.