There’s a guy I talk to regularly at the fitness center where I work out. He turned 82 a while back. When I overheard this in conversation, I asked him, “How does it feel to be 82?”
Without missing a beat, he replied, “I don’t know, I’ve never been this old before.” I cracked up. I want to be that old guy.
I am the old guy, having just turned 70. I know some things I didn’t know before and lived through enough history the past 50 years or so (that sounds weird to say) to have learned a few things.
Because I’ve failed so many times, or had something go wrong, those events/situations have taught me what may work the next time or what should be avoided. For what it’s worth, here are some thoughts that stay with me and might help you at some point navigate life’s difficulties:
In this case, I was looking to strengthen my knees to handle the pounding of running the basketball court and baseball field, and squatting to line up putts on the golf green. I watched many people at the fitness center place an elevated mat in front of them, squat and jump up onto the mat and then hop down. Looks easy. It’s not at age 70.
Start small. That’s my first tip. I took a mat down last week that was six inches thick. So my leap had to get six inches into the air. A vertical jump. In my basketball playing hey day, I had a 38-inch vertical jump and could dunk two-handed. Now, I can barely slide a piece of paper under my feet when I rise. This new exercise will hopefully help me build on that.
I did the first jump, then hopped down. I did it again, and my feet didn’t come up high enough and I lost balance and almost fell. I laughed at myself, “Hey old man, can’t even jump six inches anymore, eh?” I focused harder, then did five more successful reps for a total of six. That was enough. The next time I did 10 reps, all successful. This week I hope to raise it to 15. We’ll see.
Do the work, and you progress. Don’t expect miracles (probably another bullet that could be on the list above). If you keep after something though, you might surprise yourself.
Without missing a beat, he replied, “I don’t know, I’ve never been this old before.” I cracked up. I want to be that old guy.
I am the old guy, having just turned 70. I know some things I didn’t know before and lived through enough history the past 50 years or so (that sounds weird to say) to have learned a few things.
Because I’ve failed so many times, or had something go wrong, those events/situations have taught me what may work the next time or what should be avoided. For what it’s worth, here are some thoughts that stay with me and might help you at some point navigate life’s difficulties:
- Take care of your skin (and your feet and teeth).
- Stretch like a cat. Watch how they do it. Increase your stretching with age.
- Read (in-depth, not in short bursts)
- Make new friends. There are many good reasons for this. The saddest reason is losing an old friend.
- Hang out with younger people. They’re fun and get you out of your comfort zone.
- Challenge yourself somehow mentally, intellectually, physically, psychologically. I do this by refereeing basketball, continuing to play old codger baseball and setting golf goals that I never attain.
- Laugh. As much as possible. Hang out with people who make you laugh.
- Practice mental agility. There are more than enough options in today’s electronic world to find several games that force you to think. I play 3-4 every day.
- Travel within your personal financial parameters.
- Hang out with people you enjoy spending time with, and, conversely, avoid pound-offs (they take you down).
- Recognize online scams and stay away from them.
- Find a team you care about and root for them.
In this case, I was looking to strengthen my knees to handle the pounding of running the basketball court and baseball field, and squatting to line up putts on the golf green. I watched many people at the fitness center place an elevated mat in front of them, squat and jump up onto the mat and then hop down. Looks easy. It’s not at age 70.
Start small. That’s my first tip. I took a mat down last week that was six inches thick. So my leap had to get six inches into the air. A vertical jump. In my basketball playing hey day, I had a 38-inch vertical jump and could dunk two-handed. Now, I can barely slide a piece of paper under my feet when I rise. This new exercise will hopefully help me build on that.
I did the first jump, then hopped down. I did it again, and my feet didn’t come up high enough and I lost balance and almost fell. I laughed at myself, “Hey old man, can’t even jump six inches anymore, eh?” I focused harder, then did five more successful reps for a total of six. That was enough. The next time I did 10 reps, all successful. This week I hope to raise it to 15. We’ll see.
Do the work, and you progress. Don’t expect miracles (probably another bullet that could be on the list above). If you keep after something though, you might surprise yourself.
