Aging, Staging a Comeback and Reframing Our Later Years as Prime Time

Too Old for This Sh*t: How to Take Your Life Back from an Ageist Society

Photo by Kate Branch on Unsplash

As fall quietly slips into our consciousness

and the pre-game season rolls into the real thing, here are some thoughts as we begin to wind down another year.

Quite a few articles have been showing up in my various feeds lately. September and October are hands-down my favorite months of the year as the triple digits give way to light rain and cloud cover. Labor Day is when I start looking at how the year went, how it didn’t, and what there is to celebrate. And what still needs to be done.

In five months I turn 72. Like many of us well past sixty, each passing year takes on a whole new meaning, not just because we’re so aware of the shortness of the available time left to us, but also of the greater challenges ahead to stay healthy as we do age.

To that then, I came across some interesting articles which made me think about those of you who not only, as are we all, experiencing aging as a more immediate daily journey, but also who are just beginning your mid-life journey. This article from Scientific American caught my attention: Why Aging Comes in Dramatic Waves in Our 40s and 60s.

The study sample was both small and very localized, but offered some tantalizing ideas. That said, it also argues hard for being more mindful of our activity level and what we eat, for we do indeed go through changes- notably, largely identical for males and females having nothing to do with menopause.

Most of us who have been through both of those periods can relate to being perhaps more aware of feeling different, perhaps older, and this might track. Again, small sample, but interesting ideas. Here’s the study.

Another article , Can being more flexible help people live longer? also caught my eye and spoke to the importance of flexibility. I’ve been lousy about returning to yoga and can attest to how much of a difference it makes when I do stretch.

From that piece:

When comparing the women with lower Flexindex scores to those with higher scores, the researchers saw that women with lower flexibility scores had a 4.78 times higher chance of dying.

The men with lower Flexindex scores had a 1.87 times higher chance of dying compared to those with higher scores.

You and I both know how tempting it is to take any single article like this out of context and say that here is the ONE THING I can do which will make all the difference. Nope. Flexibility speaks to overall fitness, and is simply one of the side benefits of an active life. An active life does a lot for a body, which this article also underscores: “Exercise May Be the Single Most Potent Medical Intervention Ever Known.”

From that article:

“…you name the system in your body, and exercise improves it and makes your chance of disease in that system less: 60 percent less likely to have [atrial fibrillation], 50 percent less likely to have diabetes, 70 percent less likely to fracture your hip, 50 percent less likely to have colon cancer, 25 percent less likely to have breast cancer, I think 25 percent less likely to get depression; 70 percent of people who are active in their daily lives report better sleep. And over many years, you’re much less likely to die. So, I mean, you pick your system. Exercise, it really is the magic pill.”

If you exercise, you may well also stretch to stay limber and help prevent injuries. It’s all interconnected. That’s how to return to Prime Time, which is always and forever right now if you’re taking care of yourself.

Speaking of which,

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

This may strike you as ridiculous but if you’ve ever had a bad toe, especially a big toe (and I have) then you will understand that we too often disrespect our feet until they no longer do their job. Let’s challenge our thinking about the big toe, so susceptible to gout attacks, which are on the rise.

Here’s what to know about gout:

8.3 million people in the United States have gout. This number is growing because of an aging population, the rise in obesity, increasing numbers of people who also have other conditions such as heart disease, kidney disease, and/or diabetes. The use of diuretics by people with cardiovascular disease is another cause of the increase in gout prevalence.

While I’m not sure I had it, high uric acid directly impacts gout attacks, and mine was high. As that has come down through dietary corrections, the problem has resolved. That leads me to this.

This article, Why Your Big Toes Play Such a Huge Role in Your Health and Fitness, reminded me of why this past year plus was so tough when I badly injured a big toe post-surgically. Arthritis set in, and it was very challenging to get it under control to the point where I could walk, much less hike again.

I did, but for months my right big toe was a source not only of pain but real instability just doing daily tasks.

Here’s a key quote for those of us getting older:

“Your big toe significantly impacts gait, allowing for efficient weight transfer during walking and running and contributing to a smoother, more stable stride,” Rachel Tavel, PT, DPT, CSCS, a New York City–based physical therapist, tells SELF. You also need big toe mobility to effectively keep your balance unassisted, Dr. Helfrich says, which can help prevent falls. (Consider how your big toes naturally grip the ground a bit when you close your eyes while standing.) And more generally, any activity that requires you to flex that joint or push off the floor will hinge on healthy movement, Dr. Tavel says: “Think about going up stairs, kneeling, reaching for something on a high shelf—you need big toe mobility for all of these things.” (author bolded)

As I have tried to heal from major foot surgery, I’ve been aware of toe joint flexibility and how critical it has been to balance, to say nothing of all the sports I want to return to eventually. The BOSU ball has helped me rebuild my toe mobility along with balance. That said, all of us age, and all of us need healthy feet. We take them for granted until suddenly, those workhorses are in trouble.

My mother crippled hers with idiotic, narrow, pointy-toed high heels. To that:

• Toe Injuries and Deformities

Shoes with a narrow, pointed toe force your toes into an unnatural V-shape. If you wear high heels every day, over time they could cause toe deformities such as hammertoes or claw toes, bunions, corns and calluses and ingrown toenails. Pointy-toed shoes can cause metatarsalgia and neuroma, and inflammation of the nerve between the toes. The pinched and inflamed nerve causes pain and burning and may need to be treated with injections, physical therapy or even surgical removal of the neuroma. 

I stopped wearing fashionable heels years ago. The last time I wore a pair of heels I took them off within fifteen minutes and went barefoot. I love how they look, but I want to be able to walk normally as I age. Our toes are designed to splay out to support us, not be jammed into a tiny V. It’s fashion vs. function.

Choose well, your body will thank you for it.

Moving on to the issue of what do we do when and if we retire, about which I’ve written elsewhere on Too Old, this essay got my attention as well.

We are challenged, in our Western society which puts such value on human doing vs. human being, to allow ourselves to become redefined as we age. That is of course, should we have enough income to allow us the option.

I recently interviewed a 73-year-old man, Ted Brownrigg, who began his latest career as a river guide at 57 for Oregon River Experiences. He’s never been happier or busier, for that matter, as he loves what he does and is very good at it.

This is Ted, working. Where will YOU be at 73?

He emphasized how important it is to have a plan. I agree-but what that looks like varies widely. My plan is simple: I love my work, so it doesn’t feel like work. It feels as though my small contributions are worthwhile, and as long as I’m able to hope to do it until I drop.

I also need the money, so there’s that…I don’t have the option of quitting.

If I can’t quit, not yet anyway, at the very least I hope to continue to love what I do.

The next piece has been on a tab on my computer for quite some time. I first read it back in early summer. Since the title is up my alley, I saved it, but kept it for other reasons because so many other readers also ask this question. When are you and I Too Old to do something?

My river guide friend shattered that argument. Perhaps more importantly, however, if you and I commit to taking care of ourselves as the guide did, options open up which were previously unimaginable. That most assuredly happened for me when I trained for Kilimanjaro, realized I loved adventure travel and stuck with it. Still with it.

Here’s that article: Am I too old for this?

It depends, doesn’t it?

Here’s my favorite visual from that article:

Full tweet via @camp4

My favorite quote from that article:

…But around 50, you start losing muscle mass in your entire body – and surfers really feel this loss in their triceps.

This REALLY impacts your ability to catch waves.

I say this because I used to be the guy that said, “I’ll learn how to surf when I retire.”

Imagine I had played that out… only to discover that I didn’t have the tricep strength to support the activity once I turned 60.

PRECISELY. The body you have now at (40,50, 60) is NOT the body you will have in ten years. Might be better….but not if you don’t do the work. The sad truth is that sarcopenia (muscle loss) actually begins in our twenties. As with an earlier article, by about 40-60, then we really notice it.

My arc goes in the opposite direction, at least as it relates to risking physical adventures. Other challenges I’m getting better at, and am in fact celebrating a few big wins recently in that department. I like to push myself, especially the older I get. In some ways it’s deeply uncomfortable.

Good. That’s how I know I’m growing. If you see this negative arc in your life, may I please nudge you to do something that scares you? Like, NOW? Just some small thing. Because big things often begin small, like an idea. A dream which badly needs a date.

This year I got a few of those accomplished after much effort. So my September is celebratory even as it is sad, as are all Septembers, for in just a few weeks, all the leaves will be gone.

Finally, one last piece. We get so much of our reinforcement through friendships and there is a lot of information about loneliness. Also, that it’s pretty awful for us aging folks. You and I know how to make friends. Just…do it. I’m actively doing that very thing right now, in part because new friends often get you involved with such cool new hobbies.

And I am still new to Oregon, and if I want a community, I’m the one that has to do the outreach.

Every time we risk making a new friend, we nibble away at the encroaching isolation that Western society pushes at us as we age. Doesn’t have to be that way. There are so many people like you and me who want friends and need friends. Be the one who reaches out first. Not everyone will say yes, but some will.

Be that person. Be the person who is kind because it’s the right thing to do, kind enough to yourself to exercise and eat well and move much and love hard, and kind enough to yourself to risk rejection by making new friends.

You’re Never Too Old for any of that.

Let’s play.

Photo by Levi Guzman on Unsplash

Thank you as always for hanging out with me today. I hope you got inspired, found some good reading and came away with value. If so please consider supporting my work. This pays the bills. Not right now it doesn’t but I continue to be hopeful.

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Either way, please be in your life in full. Today.