MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2023 - PHYSICAL ASPECTS

 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2023 - HEALTH WEEK

A month ago, I signed up for training for doing a TEDx talk.  

I really didn’t need to do a TEDx talk!  The old proverb “There’s no fool like an old fool” comes into play.  I have given talks and been on stage - I’m not sure I have anything new to share.

I do have a message to share - LOVE WINS.  But I’m not sure that goes on a TEDx stage or where that goes.  LOVE WINS is a personal philosophy - “Love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength, and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as yourself.”  

LOVE WINS - is a one-on-one philosophy.  It isn’t necessarily an “in your face” statement.  Love wins goes way beyond me.  If you can be anything - be nice.  Show mercy.  Smile.  Listen to everybody, and love everybody - even the unloveable. 

*****

But, here I am - signed up to take training to give a TEDx talk (I am still determining where or when - and I am to apply to all the relevant TEDx events.)  

(Aside from that, this organization is helping people get the self-confidence (ego?) to be speakers - and I’ve been there and done that).

*****

In the last two weeks, I’ve had three long training sessions (online).  How to get your idea, organize and deliver a one-minute teaser video, and get your ideas together into an 18-minute (or less) talk.  

The talks can’t be specifically religious or political.  

I decided I wanted to talk about retirement - and how my retirement went wrong.  

*****

I have opted for a framework for living - modified to this subject.  I picked five general areas:  finance, physical (health), mental, social, and spiritual). 

Of the people I worked with, most have financial planners. Human Resources encourages people to sign up for retirement plans, which the government fosters.  Individual retirement accounts (IRAs), various pre-tax accounts, and more exist. 

This week, I want to talk about the physical side of retirement.

*****

Early point - the end of retirement is death.  I am going to die someday - all of us are going to die someday.  That might fit better into the spiritual side of my framework.  

I've worked for a retirement community for the past two years.   This particular retirement company is loosely affiliated with a Christian denomination.  It goes from independent living to assisted living, a mental health/dementia wing, rehabilitation, nursing home, and hospice.  It might be considered a retirement plan from early retirement to death.  And this enterprise tends to be on the “high-end” of retirement.  They are an excellent option if you have the finances to retire graciously. 

(Aside from that, I have friends on the other end of the spectrum - they can’t afford an excellent facility with congregate meals, trips to concerts and events. The result is death - whether in a pleasant upscale community or an income-subsidized housing. )

*****

So, with a lengthy introduction - point two - physical aspects of retirement.

Our bodies are slowly wearing out.  I can’t run a four-minute mile anymore (I never could, anyway).  I can’t run a twelve-minute mile anymore!! It takes me at least twenty minutes to walk a mile - where I could speed-walk at a fourteen-minute pace in the past.  

My arms can’t curl fifty pounds anymore (lucky to get twenty).  My gut just doesn’t give up.  Even my hair isn’t the same color as twenty years ago.  (I am glad to have hair!!!)

Many friends have had heart attacks, heart surgery, knee surgeries, or cancer treatments. Many are overweight and have diabetes.  

Yes, it is a way of life.  In the doctor’s offices, I have visited, most chairs in the waiting room have seniors sitting in them. 

And, eventually, we all will have heart attacks, cancer, or other life-ending physical event.  (Dying of “old age” is no longer considered the real cause of death).   But all the body's parts stop working like they did at age 20.  

If we want to live for one hundred years (or longer), we must care for our bodies!!  

That means three things to me:

• Awareness of aging

• Physical activity

• Regular physical care (seeing your doctor frequently)

Awareness of aging tops my list - we must acknowledge that we can’t do physical things like we did at a younger age.  (And, not part of today’s blog - but that also relates to our minds and thinking).

In the next few days, I will write about aging as a physical event.

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

YES - WE WILL ALL DIE

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 13, 2023