“Happy Birthday. Welcome to always being sore, tired and depressed.”
As I approached and passed another milestone birthday, I was reflecting on my journey to this point. Thinking about other milestones and seasons of life I would remember things both from a place of excitement and wonder to regret and disappointment. More now than ever, I understand there are many things we can not change. Some are just outside of our control. Moving forward with the lessons we have learned, in pursuit of doing better, is really the best that we can do. The hardest thing for me to process; however, was that there seemed to be so many around me telling me how I had to feel, now that I was 40 years old. Telling me how tired, sore, depressed, poor, upset, negative, etc. that I was going to be, like I didn’t have any other choice. This is just how it is.
I call bullshit!
Thank you to everyone in my life that has ever offered their wisdom and advice to me in any fashion, especially about getting older, but forgive me if I refuse to believe that this is it. That I am just going to fall apart now that I’ve reached a magic number.
My utmost respect to all of those that are steps ahead of me in this life, to those that feel the pressure of getting older and to natural human deterioration, but please bare with me for just a minute. No matter what level you find yourself at, the saying goes, “You are only as old as you feel.” This isn’t just some annoying cliché and unfortunately it isn’t entirely as easy as telling ourselves we are 10 years old again, although our mind and what we tell ourselves plays a massive role in our true wellness. Being as old as you feel comes down to a lot of factors, some of which may be out of your control and others may be things that you have never tried to change. Maybe you don’t care to. This includes, your diet, sleeping habits, screen time, physical fitness, home or workplace hazards, genetics, and the list goes on and on. No matter your age, if these things are not addressed in a positive manor, you may feel way older than you are, or than you would like to.
I hope I am not the first person to tell you but, everything you eat, drink, smell, breathe, apply, etc. influences your mind and body. If you were to lay down each evening and snuggle into your favorite asbestos pillows, or lather your skin in sulfuric acid, surely you would see where the pain and sickness is coming from. Why don’t we consider everything this way? Processed foods, medications, alcohol, corn, wheat, sugar, blue light, white light, yellow light. Ok, maybe I am getting out of hand, but all these things are draining your energy, making you gain weight (or prevent you from losing it), making you miserable, sore, tired & depressed. Do you see where I am going?
There will come a point in your life, hear me; there WILL come a point where you are hit with some unfortunate news about your health. I hope that it is delivered in a comfortable place and not as a sudden episode or attack but, our species does not live forever. This is not new but, why do we wait until we get this information before we do anything about it? Why do we need multiple trips to the Doctor, hoping for a new miracle medication or another week with a Holter monitor to see if this time they see something they didn’t before. Is this the best possible thing we can do? Does our family history mean that we can just sit and wait for the inevitable?
Even if it was guaranteed, don’t you think you would want to do whatever you could to avoid it. And well before a doctor sits you down to give you, their findings? Did you know that this is the part that is almost entirely in your control.
Nothing changes, if nothing changes.
Maybe read that sentence above again. Nothing changes, if nothing changes. This should be the most important thing to realize as we get older. If we continue to treat the machine poorly, it will act poorly. We will think and feel all the things that others around us are saying because, “it is just how it is.” It is time to be uncommon. It is time to focus on wellness instead of illness. Pay attention to the fuel you give your body and how much you take care of it and then you won’t feel any external pressure to feel miserable because you reach a certain number. You can feel amazing because you reached that number in the best physical and mental condition of your life.
Recently, I have spent a lot of time correcting these habits in my own life and while I am far from perfect and in no way judging anyone else, I have taken one small step, one day at a time to a better physical and mental health. It truly is the opposite of what I used to do. Instead of waiting for illness, I am waiting for wellness. Working on it and noticing how much better I feel each day I eat better, or exercise more than I did before. This is the secret. Just do better than yesterday, and then again…and again.
Lastly, it is important to know, that we aren’t born with this information and there are a lot of conflicting arguments out there for both sides about what version is correct. At the end of the day only you know how you feel. If corn bothers you, don’t eat it. If you get all rashy when you have a drink of alcohol, perhaps it is time to get rid of it completely. If you are tired all the time, sore, depressed, look at what you are eating and drinking and maybe it is a quick discovery. We all are affected by things differently and until you take care of your health and wellness, I fear you are just waiting for the doctor to tell you it is time to start doing something different, or worse, maybe that it’s too late.
Don’t wait for someone else to tell you that it is time. To borrow a version of an old saying, the best time to start taking care of yourself was 20 years ago, the next best time is right now.
I expect that I will naturally be slower, more tired, and possibly depressed as I get older, but it won’t be because I am doing nothing about it.
What are you doing about it?
Sean