Let’s face it, we are all growing older. We may kick and
scream, but we can’t stop the process, and I am not ready quite yet for the
alternative. Online articles abound with advice on how to age gracefully.
Recent ones include: Remove your Eye Bags
Instantly, This Trick Erases Teeth Stains, 68 Year Old Grandma Outsmarts Botox,
and The Secrets to Aging Gracefully. I usually read them because I just
might learn something. The one bit of advice that appears in all articles has
to do with exercise. I also get unsolicited urging from my late bloomer mate who
exercises in some form or fashion almost every day. He is on a three mile hike
in hot weather as I write this.
Until two
years ago, I participated in deep water aquatics at the YMCA. I decided to give
up swimming because I was getting too many colds and infections. Then my excuse became something like this quote from an unknown
author.
"I tried exercise but
found I was allergic to it - my skin flushed, my heart raced,
I got sweaty, short of breath. Very, very dangerous."
Then I read Fifteen
Ways Exercise Helps You Look and Feel Younger. Who doesn’t want to relieve
stress, reduce belly fat, have better sleep, and be more flexible? After
checking out the options for an exercise program in my area, I finally decided
to join two fitness classes at our local senior center. It was time to get out of my comfy chair and take to heart a doctor’s
admonition to his patient,
“I’m afraid pulling the handle on your recliner
doesn’t count as exercise.”
I was surprised to discover
that I could get a pretty strenuous workout by using a straight chair for
support while I use weights and a resistance band to stretch my legs, arms, and
torso. My second class is a gentle Yoga class that helps with balance and
relaxation. I can do this without injuring myself and get myself in better
shape in the process.
God placed me in this body to
accomplish His purposes while I am still here. I can’t do that if I am too
sluggish to move and am unmotivated and lazy. I want to be able to say like the apostle Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
