I Am Amazed That

They Are Amazed

While still in medical practice I often saw men who had retired only to gradually die when they had no education and no interests outside of their work lives. Because of them, I learned to stay engaged and promised myself that I would stay in the game and be active as long as I was able to do so.

 Now that winter is here, it can be a challenge to stay active, especially outdoors. Because of structural problems, I have had to give up down hill and cross country skiing. That has left me with sea kayaking. So, I go out on the lake, occasionally alone and often with other like-minded paddlers. When I mention this to civilians, they are amazed that there are folks out on the big lake in winter. What interests me is that most of these amazed people are younger, some very much younger, than myself.

 Another thing I learned as a cardiologist was that my patients were the age they appeared to be and the age they acted. It didn't seem to matter what the calender said about how old they were supposed to be. Those folks who look and acted young and kept active were healthier and, for the most part, happier.

This philosophical thinking has come to me, as it does every winter, as I approach another age mile stone. Again I sit and try to remember how my parents had appeared to me when I was a child. I believe that when they appeared to be old they were actually in their late thirties, not old at all. Of course, their generation had had harder lives and poorer nutrition than we enjoy today. In any event, I "learned" that 40 was really old, but that changed as I got older and watched my parents being active into their seventies.

Just now, I have a bad cold and laryngitis. Even so, I am watching the weather report with hopes of being out there on the lake this weekend. More over, classes are over soon, and I am hoping to do lots of paddling after that. Yes, I occasionally glimpse at the calendar, but I choose not to act my age. Hopefully, I will eventually amaze myself.

Paddle safe...
DS