The Aging Process

Today, represents the first day of October in the year 2023.  Like all months, once the month is over, it will never be seen again unless it is in photographs...  such is the movement of time.

Time moves forward.  Each day that passes, we age a little more.  As our age increases, the passage of time seems to move faster, even though its rate has not changed at all.

We try to maintain our youth with:

• exercise
• diets
• cosmetics
• surgery
• pills and creams
• hair transplants
• tonics

Some people continue to lift weights and take steroids to keep their bodies lean and mean up until the age of 80 and sometimes beyond...  But eventually, bodies break down and muscles atrophy and turn to fat...  it is inevitable.

Yet, we pursue this dream and fantasy nonetheless as if we can somehow manage to evade our destiny.

My hair began to turn grey in my twenties and in my forties, I began losing my hair.  I just accepted what was happening.  I had no desire to try and regrow my hair or change it to another color in an effort to make me look younger.

While I have always been active most of my life until about age 60, I was able to maintain a lean body with a flat stomach, regardless of what I ate or how much of it I ate.  That too changed at age 60 and I started gaining weight.

My immediate response was to start exercising...  but several physical therapists and doctors told me the only way to lose weight was not by exercise but by reducing the amount of food I ate each day.

As one ages one's metabolism changes and one needs to eat less in order to maintain one's current weight.  If one maintains their level of eating, they will automatically gain weight.

I exercise because it helps my heart function properly and because it is a necessary function of recovery from having back fusion surgery.  It is not how long I walk but how often I walk.  I should be walking for about 15-20 minutes 3 times a day.

Walking used to be a normal easy activity for me to accomplish.  I loved to walk and had no problems walking uphill or downhill or flat.  I did not walk fast but I did walk at a normal pace.  I could walk for a long time like that unless it was unusually hot or cold.

After my back surgery, walking was a chore, and it was like I had to force myself to walk.  It was no longer enjoyable.  The surgery was successful because I could walk but it changed how I walked.

All this is part of the aging process, and it is something with which we have to accept and move on...  otherwise, getting old will leave us miserable.