Are You Prepared To Stay In The Game?
Getting ready to workout is about loosening, warming, and opening up. So when I saw my Mother in the studio getting ready by doing 2 bad stretches, I had to yell “STOP“….why are you doing those?
“Well, this is what I always do”, she said.
“Why? Do you realize they are doing nothing to get you ready? They’re useless and are not helping you warm-up”, I said.
“Okay, then show me what I could do instead”.
My pleasure.
My Mother was an avid runner until the age of 59.
One afternoon at her house our family was gathered for a birthday celebration. It had been raining all day. Whenever it rained the back steps from the house down to the porch became slippery.
I believe it was an accident waiting to happen, but until something did happen nobody was going to change it. Unfortunately, mi madre was the recipient.
Coming out of the house down those 3 back steps her foot hit the third step on an angle, and there went Mom.
This fierce fall with her body going one way, foot heading another direction, forced her ankle to decide where to go. Unsure which way it decided. We all just know that she was in emergency surgery 1 hour later on that Sunday.
Mom now would have pins and plates holding things together on an ankle that previously had her running through the neighborhoods for 27 years at 4:30 am.
Life was about to change for Mom.
That was 9 years ago. Somehow that specific event changed the way my Mom handled physical activity. I’m sure there are a lot of factors that went into the change, some that played mentally, heavy emotionally, while battling the physical.
In those last 9 years she has incurred other injuries that seem unrelated to the ankle that was blown out.
“Seem unrelated.”
Those are the key words.
I always wonder what happens to a person after that ONE fall, or ONE accident, or ONE mishap. Is there some hidden susceptibility that preys on a vulnerable mind and body?
We all have an idea of how we would be IF something happened to us. Until it actually does and it’s staring at you, you truly are clueless.
I am uncertain what happened to Mom emotionally and mentally. I just know that I have a seen a whole lot of changes in the last 9 years.
She’s come through things wonderfully. Great health, good genes and a positive outlook have carried her through the challenges of healing and moving forward.
Life, your life, is largely about being able to get around, right?
As a Boomer, imagine how dramatic a statement it would make about your future with a loss of movement.
You can’t imagine walkers and wheelchairs, they contain you!
Hospitals? Forget it, they surely will inhibit your movement. Tubes, machines, bad gowns- who can walk around?
When you’re sick and down and out, depending on someone is one of the last things that you want. But, it has to happen as part of the healing process. Eventually, you’ll get back on your own.
It’s just that idea of losing your independence is so frightening.
Here’s a mini solution to getting proactive about choosing a better way, a better outlook.
Begin today with a pledge to yourself by deciding that your future mission in this world is about staying in the game, fully alive and feeling good.
You’ve got a lot of people that want that for you too.
If there’s something that can make you feel better than you do right now, what’s stopping you?
Maybe you haven’t been out for a walk in a really long time. Give up on the ‘perfect’ weather excuse.
Or you’ve been thinking about bicycling around the small town at the beach one weekend. Plan on it the next time you’re there. That new Zumba class sounds like a hit, you should try it.
Want to feel young again? Put on some good 60’s music and dance around the kitchen. You don’t need a lot of room. Four feet by four feet will do just fine.
Think you’ve lost your swing because you’re outta practice? Who cares, you’re not competing for any prize. This is about feeling good. One of the best ways to feel good is to just improvise. Self judgement loosens once you get going. Inhibitions gently fade because you’re getting out of your head and into your body.
Movement has a really cool way of motivating you all on its own.
You just have to get out of your own way.
Think about it. Active aging is a much better alternative than just watching it all go by.
That’s no fun!
Sure, accidents happen, things change that you have no control over, and bumps in the road can stop you dead in your path.
Get up. Get Active.
Don’t be daunted by future possibilities and don’t be haunted by past calamities.
Movement makes you feel healthy, it confirms you’re alive.
Remember that line in “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”…
“YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY”.
That’s an accident waiting to happen.
Change your life before the accident happens.
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