Start Me Up!

For many years I’ve made it a hobby to study health, nutrition, and sport. In later years I formally studied recreation and tourism, with an emphasis on tourism management and development. Sadly all that study saw me spending increasing amounts of time in front of a computer instead of the actual participation in sport and physical activity, and it’s taken a serious toll on my health. Add to that my indulgences in drink and smoke, convenience foods, lack of attention to diet, daily stressors, unusual stressors, the toll of chronic health problems,  the inevitable and glorious effects of age on my mind/body/spirit; and I am left here with a somewhat unrecognizable body, and markedly different mental affect. Don’t get me wrong, there are some advantages to this process. As I’ve come to place less importance on looks, how many pushups I can do, and how many tasks I can accomplish in a day. (Some things truly are inevitable as we accept the natural winding down of a once spirited and busy life.) I found I have accepted that it’s sometimes ok to do little; accomplishments can be measured not only in productivity, but in small joys and thoughtful moments. The most important thing I have learned to appreciate is my (now returned) sense of childlike play. And I do like to play.

So while I accept these hard earned wrinkles, the sunspots that pay tribute to happy memories, the less fluid joints, the straining and now lens assisted eyes, and other changes; some gradual, some surprising, some quite profound; I find that I am not yet ready to ride calmly off into that sunset. I believe that vitality need not slip wantonly away and that I do deserve a chance and require the strength that will allow me to enjoy my shifting values and embrace my still keen desire for adventure and play. With this in mind, I have again taken up my quest in learning what I may do to improve my health and attitude, and have a renewed determination in that I will not wither or wane but live in grace and acceptance, with serenity *and* vigor, for as long as time will lend.