In pursuit of youth while aging
When my daughter is having a bad day or is not feeling well, I tell her to do 25 pushups and then tell me how she feels. While this has become a family joke, it is true that exercise, such as running increases endorphins and a sense of well being. Whether or not 25 pushups elicits that same physiological response as does endurance exercise is not the point. Getting your arms pumped up from doing a set of pushups feels good and feeling good is the point.
Applying this same approach to aging, opens the door to many things that we can do to feel good and maybe even find that feeling of youth. By youth, I mean that as metaphor for enjoying those moments, in the present when the pressures and constraints of the surrounding world go away and our youthful energy takes over. This past weekend I went to the playground with my son and had 2 very different experiences.
The first was the physical feeling of being a bit on the old side as I slipped down the circular tunnel slide. Those slides just are not made for an adult’s body. The corners are too tight. Yet, I was still happy that as an older dad I had the flexibility to even enter such a slide.
The second was catching one of those peaceful moments, when plane was flying overhead, the sky was a deep blue and the only sound that was breaking the silence, besides that plane was my son laughing and having fun. For that brief almost surreal moment, I was transferred back to my childhood and was able to feel myself playing on the playground, under the bright sun and without any worries or stress.
Tell me some of your stories when you were able to catch one of those moments, that enabled you to feel free. The key being not a wistful moment that brings you backwards, but a moment from the past that allows you to feel good and free in the present. Finding such moments will help you to age well.