Better or Worse Shape?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
Are you in better or worse shape physically/mentally, than you thought you would be at your present age? Did you ponder those things when you were young?

Going by my parents and the other older folks I was around, I feel I'm in better shape for my age than I thought I would be.
 

When I was younger I never gave it a thought. I guess I always expected to stay as I was.

Compared to family and friends and people I see around I am in better shape than most people my age.I have a few pounds of belly fat I would like to lose but otherwise my weight is good.

I take no medications of any kind except an occasional alka seltzer and lots of benedryl during hay fever season.

I do have my aches and pains in my neck and shoulders.
 
As a kid I always thought I would be pretty much immortal like my martial arts teachers - at least, that's how they seemed to ME. My first teacher was in his mid-50's when I started with him at 12 years of age, and to me he was already a dinosaur. But he was a dinosaur who could routinely outperform 20-somethings at most any physical task.

Now here I am where HE was, at 54 (ooh - 55 next week! :playful: ) and while I'm pretty much resigned to being mortal I still don't have any real health problems except the occasional flare-up of kidney pain from a sword injury I received many years ago.

All in all, I'm happy to be at the level I'm at. There are things that could be better, things I could be doing (or NOT doing), but overall I'm good.
 

I actually did start giving old age some thought when I hit my late 20s.

Only because I have a penchant (now a fully retired penchant) for re-schooling rank horses that The Shaq wouldn't go near, and it caused me some permanent damage. That damage has been repeatedly pointed out to me by a various assortment of medical professionals.

Each verbal trip to the woodshed always ending with "--and you had better keep yourself fit if you want to be walking by the time you reach 40!. Well, 40 came and went nearly 26 years ago and I'm still walking.

So, on the one hand I fully expected to be in great physical condition because I've always had horses, acreage and do all my own work. On the other hand, according to my X-rays I should NOT be walking because I have no discs in my lower back - all that is literally holding me together is cartilage, muscle and my lower back has somehow managed to fuse itself without any surgery. I have a high pain tolerance level, so all I need are some Excedrin Extra Strength, Lidoderm pain patches and, if my knee acts up I slather it in DMSO.

Mentally better or worse with age? That depends on who you talk to; whatever those comments might be would apply to me since birth:playful:

Considering how many folks have ended up dependent on others, long before they reached my age, I am indeed very fortunate. Looking back at my stellar "Dukes of Hazzard" style snowmobile accidents, being kicked, drug, rolled on, and thrown off more horses than I can count (my choice of horses-lollol), I am doing pretty d**n good.
 
It's good to be on the sunny side of the grass - but I guess I never had expectations one way or the other.

At 69, I've had a triple by-pass ('95), five stents added ('05) and still find eating one of my greatest pleasures, darn it! But I am fairly disciplined as I fight to keep the cholesterol reports looking good, and they do. :) Still, I should be 150 lbs. and I'm almost 200. I do walk daily and also toss around a small dumbbell three times a week.

I'm happy and content. I love the life I have and can't imagine having depression, which my twin sister deals with. Life is just grand from my perspective and that's the healthiest way to look at it. Waking up each day and doing whatever I want, even sitting in my glorious recliner if that's the day's notion, is a grand way to live. I think I would have enjoyed retiring at birth. Next time around I think I'll try that!

Today's notion is to clean up the boat and go fishing the next couple of days with the temps around 70°, but the hang-up is getting the boat cleaned up. That's an awful lot like work! :(
 
I don't remember thinking much about this when I was young. I'm pretty healthy at 65. My "adoptive" parents lived into their 90's. They were both in pretty good shape well into their 80's. I have a couple of health issues, though not life threatening, that neither of them had to deal with. I'll admit that both have surprised me.

So, the bottom line has to be that I'm in worse shape than I expected to be. Darn!
 
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