My sister, Sandy, says if you want to know how old you are get down on the floor and try to get up again. It’s humbling and I have experienced this challenge a lot this year working out with kick*** physical therapists and trainers. Paul and I ventured out by air this past week to spend Thanksgiving with his daughter’s family in Louisville, KY. Here are some things we experienced that kept aging front and center for us:
-Sitting in a car too long leaves one stiff as a board and unable to walk for several minutes while our circulation recovers.
-Using escalators has become disorienting and I am always on the lookout for elevators these days.
-Quickly making our way through airport terminals to change planes gets the heart rate up but makes us crabby in the process.
-Worse yet is the “crink in the neck” I have had for over a week probably caused by hauling a heavy messenger bag thru the airports.
-We stayed in an old house with lots of stairs and I dreaded the march each time I went up and down.
-The disorientation that comes with waking up in different beds/rooms is unsettling especially when the bladder calls in the night.
-The more time we spend at home alone in relative calm makes high noise levels irritating and being in crowds unbearable. We got lucky with smooth air travel on this trip except for having to listen to one guy’s life story while he chatted away with the guy next to him behind us.
-With memory/forgetfulness challenges on board, trying to pack clothing for fluctuating temperatures along with the myriad personal items necessary for health and wellbeing makes proper packing difficult; I end up hauling around dozens of items I never need but am often unable to find the one I do need.
-A change in routine, diet, exercise, etc. throws off numerous bodily functions too frustrating and personal to discuss.
-Sleep…blessed sleep; all I can say is if it’s a regular challenge for you at home it will become an even greater challenge while traveling especially when leg cramps and reflux hit while suited up in a CPAP machine.
All of this is troubling especially given the amount of travel we still want to enjoy in our remaining golden year. With these recent experiences front of mind, tonight I watched Jane Pauley host a special called “Forever Young” that profiled breakthroughs in the science of aging; a popular subject for all us baby boomers. One statistic quoted that 66% of survey respondents wouldn’t want to live forever leaving 34% who would like to live forever. My answer would depend upon what age or life stage I had to choose. If I could choose 20 for brain power and stamina, 30 for ambition and optimism, 40 for life experience and confident physicality and 50 plus for emotional maturity and contentment I’d answer a resounding YES to wanting to live forever. However, I’d probably self-destruct with all those things working together in tandem but dang, “youth is still wasted on the young!