Getting Older Is A Fact of Life, And Beats The Alternative

At some point in life, each of us must come to the realization and accept that we are not "as young as we used to be." Regardless of how good one's physical condition, nobody remains twenty years old forever. As one gets into his fifties, he realizes his hearing, eyesight, strength, and stamina are rarely "what they used to be." However, it usually takes some sort of incident or event to get us to finally admit the fact to ourselves.

This past fall, my twenty-one year old son was getting ready to move back to school, and as I have in the past, I volunteered my assistance in helping "move some of his stuff." Since my car is larger than my son's, I packed more of his "stuff" into my car than he did in his. My wife and I also decided we would leave earlier and take care of whatever we felt was necessary, unload our car at my son's apartment, and then relax. Like nearly all of the 21 year olds, my son would get up later, say his farewells to his friends, and bring the rest of his stuff with him in his car.

Of course, the best laid plans still don't always work out as anticipated. What should have been an approximately two-and-a-half hour trip, ended up taking about four hours, because, of course we met unbelievable traffic. We arrived at my son's apartment, which is a very large one bedroom apartment. It is in a great location, large, airy, light - - a great apartment for a college student. However, the apartment is on the third floor, up an outside thirty-seven steps staircase. When you're 21, this really doesn't impact you much, and can even make it more fun. However, when you are in your late fifties, have been riding in a car for four hours, and the temperature outside is approximately ninety degrees Fahrenheit, and you need to make approximately ten trips up and then of course ten trips down, therefore traversing approximately 740 steps, you begin to realize why the words to the song, "You're not a kid anymore," are more than merely words.

My wife, however, realized that it would be too much to do this trip back and forth in one day. Instead, we got a hotel room, equipped with a whirlpool that we took full advantage of. Therefore, you realize that there are certain advantages to not being as young - - one begins to develop better judgment than when one is 21. We had a leisurely dinner and relaxes, and decided that we would meet up with our son the next day, enjoy a good meal together, help him with some needed shopping, running some errands together, and of course climbing those 37 steps up and down a few more times. Despite the aches and pains, however, neither my wife nor I would have it any other way. This is truly what life and our life cycles are all about.

For more than a decade, I have complained of pain in my shoulder, but preferred to put off doing anything than facing the facts. Back then, I was introduced to a procedure known as prolotherapy, and for more than a decade, my shoulder has been feeling far better. About a year ago, it started hurting again, and then last week, I shocked my wife by asking her to call the orthopedist to get me an appointment. My wife knew that it must have really hurt if I was going to the doctor. I went to the orthopedist, and he examined it an took an x-ray, and determined, it was a Rotator Cuff problem. He sent me for an MRI, and then, when I returned to his office for the results, I knew I was in for it when the doctor began, "I have good news and I have bad news." As one ages, there are aches and pains. Everyone gets them somewhere!

One can either get older or not. I personally believe aging beats the alternatives. Now, if only we could somehow combine the judgment we gain as we get older and hopefully more mature, with the fearlessness and vitality of our youth, we would certainly enjoy the best that life could be!