Moving through the Golden Years

Something seems to happen to a good number of people in their mid 80s. Many (not all) lose mobility. I'm not entirely sure what happens. It could be pain from arthritis that makes movement painful. It could be that it's more difficult for them to see where they're going because their eyesight isn't what it used to be. Maybe there's a loss of balance. Maybe it's a loss of motivation to do anything. I think sometimes it's because they took a fall that resulted in an injury and now they are afraid. But the thing I'm relatively sure of is that once you lose your mobility, you can't get it back. You'll be dependent on a walking stick, a walker, or a wheelchair.

Sometimes when we go to a movie, my right knee doesn't want to leave when the movie is over. I know this situation will NOT improve with age. My plan to exercise more to build up strength in my knee seems to be aggravating it more than strengthening it. Perhaps I'm not doing the right exercises, but walking seems to help. I realize that I need to work on it now, rather than wait 20 years until I can't walk at all.

And roughly 20 years is what we're looking at but the time to act is NOW. If we want to avoid mobility issues we need to keep moving! Walking, cycling, dancing, yoga - there are any number of things we can do to sustain our mobility. (Sitting in front of the TV is not on the list!)

We like to live life as fully as we are able. We want to "go and do". We have many friends in their 70s who are still "going and doing". (I hope they're still "going and doing" 10 years from now.) We want to be like them. But, I accept that when we hit our 80s, we'll probably have to slow down a bit. That being the case, NOW is the time to pick up speed...