You’re Old. Sit Down. Take it Easy.

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No, this isn't me. But it COULD be

A couple of years ago, I was in a snow skiing accident (some of you who followed me on the View know about this so you can skip ahead if you want).

It knocked the snot of me.

Ruptured a disc in my lower back. I had to stand to eat my meals for months because I couldn’t sit. Spent a lot of time on an inversion table and was generally pissed off for, oh I don’t know, months.

I got past all of that.

I rebuilt my beat up body, worked through the anger (thank you Elle, Ross, C, IG), and along the way created a whole new lifestyle that I ended up calling Fusion (the blend of lifestyle choices with special training to achieve a high level of fitness and health from one birthday to the next).

So it wasn’t all bad (and that is a post in and of itself – the stoic philosophy

Some people I’ve talked to since conclude, without actually asking me, that I will never set foot on a ski slope again. Nope. I will ski again. I love to ski. But, not until I’m ready.

This, “You’re not going to ski again are you?” thought pattern is not unusual. It’s sort of a mixture of “You’re getting older and have a busted up body. Be smart. Slow down. Take it easy. Don’t take any risks” combined with “The idea of this scares the crap out of me so it should scare the crap out of you too.” It’s consistent with this NY Times news article

Bottom line: Baby Boomers need to do less as they age so they won’t get hurt.

Let’s see. How do I say this and retain my eloquent writing voice?

Bullshit.

Here’s my take on all of this. You don’t need to do less as you age. You will some anyway. Look at Brett Favre. You can’t play professional football forever. But, that’s not what people mean when they say slow down. What they means is that if you have something happen or you have some ache or pain, then settle for what you have and slow down.

If you don’t agree with that mind set then what you do need to do is pursue excellent joint health, great flexibility, awesome balance and coordination, superior strength and endurance, emotional wisdom, and mental agility. If your body moves with fluid, elegant motion and you have sufficient strength and endurance for the task, and your wise about your choices, you can do all sorts of things.

You have to work at it. It won’t just drop in your lap one day or knock on the door and say, “Hi, I’m your health and fitness app!! Install me!”

The question is, “What do you want and what are you willing to do to get it?”

Fusion isn’t for everyone. Not everyone wants to give up (mostly) pasta, chips, breads, white rice, and instead eat a nice thick, juicy ribeye with grilled vegetables and a glass of Malbec for dinner. Nor do some want to give up repeated, long distance running and in it’s place, sprint, train the Elements

That’s ok. But of course, if that’s you, you’re probably not reading this anyway and if you still are reading, then sign up and join the Tribe.

And, one more thing.

Stuff happens. Accidents happen. But, don’t give up the things you love for fear of doing too much as you age (and do you know what age is now biologically “old”? 30. And it’s dropping). Keep pursuing the things you love but prepare your mind and body for it.

And, while you’re at it, make today count.