The Age Old Excuse

We’ve all heard (and probably most of us have said), “I’m getting too old for this” or “my body is breaking down, I guess I’m just getting old”. We become accepting of the unproven fact that every day we get a bit older and so every day our body breaks down a bit more and gets a bit more sore. Do not fall into that trap of complacency! It is an excuse we tell ourselves to explain away our pains and get us off the hook for being responsible for how we could feel. Remember that how you think, act and feel have direct impacts on how your body functions - a lot more of an impact than plain age has! I know this to be true as I’ve worked with people in their 80’s who are more active and have less pain than people in their 40’s and 50’s. And on the flip side, people in their 30’s who are in rougher shape than 60’s. I have also worked with people who are far better off now than they were years ago. Witnessing these things again and again is a good enough argument for me that our age can’t be solely responsible for how our body feels. So if you’ve made age the biggest factor in determining how your body should feel, you gotta change your attitude around! There are too many people who don’t follow that rule, so it’s time to chuck out the book!

I once came across a thought provoking question I’d like to share: “How old would you say you are if you didn’t know when you were born?” At the time I was having a particularly sore patch and blurted out 80 even though I was in my early 30’s - definitely not the right mindset! I was intrigued by this question and asked others, some felt older and some felt younger than they were - pretty much nobody felt the age they actually were on their birth certificate. I think all of us have had days in our 30’s we felt like our 80’s and I sure hope to have days in my 80’s when I feel like I’m in my 40’s - don’t you? I want to encourage you to shift your mind away from blaming your birthday for aches and pains or feeling like there is a magical age threshold of maximum health or fitness and if you’re past it, that’s it for you. Accept it’s just a legal measurement and instead focus on feeling younger and healthier!  Heck, entire books have been written about how taking action on your health can make you feel younger - even as you grow older - this is not a made-up unique and outrageous goal. 

So what can you do to get your butt in gear on this path? Exercise and making positive changes to your diet are very important here, but the hidden secret sauce…is DOING things that make you FEEL…you guessed it…younger! Think of things that you can do that make you feel younger or that maybe you haven’t done since you were a kid (careful with yourself - maybe don’t pick a high intensity workout or daredevil move, we’re looking for fun not first aid here). Do it for 10 minutes a day for at least a week. Pay attention to how you feel afterwards. Calmer? Happier? More creative? Energized? Whatever comes up write it down - so you can remind yourself why I’ve roped you into this. Pretending you don’t have ideas? Here’s just a few.. have a dance party in the kitchen, shoot hoops, play catch, play hide and seek, play at the park, hop scotch, colour - if you haven’t done it since preschool or elementary school all the better!! If you already do this then high-fives to you - now just challenge yourself to do it more every day than you already do! Please note “watching” other people play, or “supervising children” doesn’t count. YOU need to be “doing” it. You might be helping your little ones at the park, but unless they are quite a bit older (and likely too cool to be seen with you) you aren’t reallllly the one playing, plus you have to double as the “adult supervisor/safety patrol” role so you need to be on guard and not fully immersed in your own fun. Do it when you don’t have to be supervising or parenting. To get the full effect, you need to be doing it as the child. I’m not ignorant to self-confidence issues and if you’re having trouble mustering up the confidence to be young - then rather than not try it, the best solution is to take someone else down with you :) Feel free to rope someone else into it with you! Your spouse, partner, friend, the dog, the cat - or heck you can just embarrass yourself in the house when nobody’s watching, Remember, try to do it every day, and keep tabs on how you feel afterwards, the more fun we have, the more we release endorphins which message to the body that things are good. We shift our internal environment to one more primed for healing and thriving. After all, it’s only your mind that “knows” how old you are, your body just receives the messages (whether they are true or not). That means you can “fool” it - but only if you’re willing to detach from that little piece of paper with your birth date on it and give it a try!