Sunday, October 03, 2004
Aging
There no beating around the bush: I'm aging rapidly. It's not pleasant. I'm 27 years old. I don't think that's incredibly old, but I'm sadly coming to the realization that I'm mortal. This is something that I wouldn't have admitted a few years ago. Of course, I still don't have any evidence to the contrary, but I'm starting to feel more physical pain than usual. Guess what? I don't like it.
In my life, I have never had a cavity, and I've never broken a bone. Both of these are related to luck, but I don't expect either to change. The cavity deal is definitely luck: I haven't had a dental check-up in three years, and while I brush my teeth twice a day, that's all I do. I don't floss, I don't brush after every meal. Like I said, I'm just lucky. Maybe I have resilient teeth. Maybe all the soda I drink toughens my teeth up, or kills all the bacteria that might otherwise be in my mouth. Maybe not - it's probably luck.
As for the broken bones, well, that's also luck, but less so. I like to think I'm relatively agile (and that, of course, is lucky in and of itself, so I guess fundamentally everything is based on luck, or maybe God - I contend there's no difference), and therefore can avoid situation that might break my bones. I also don't play many sports that might result in broken bones, like hockey or football. I do play a decent amount of catching-related sports, so maybe one day I'll break a finger, but if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer not. Another reason I haven't broken any bones is because I think I'm rather flexible. This seems to come naturally - I don't really stretch before activity, but I'm starting to think that's going to have to chance.
I posted a bit ago about the "End of an Era", referring to the fact that I can no longer do my double-jointed trick, by doctor's order. Of course, I saw the doctor because I started experiencing shoulder pain, which hadn't happened before. Next to balding (which I've also written about), this was on of the big signs of my aging - my arms had never hurt me before, but they started to. Now I'm noticing that I'm feeling tightness in my hamstrings more often - maybe I really should start to stretch before softball.
Last week, I played soccer and got kicked in the knee and took a soccer ball that bent my fingers back. Both still hurt. Today, I played softball and twisted my ankle - it may be sprained. This hasn't happened to me in a long time, and I hate it. It's not the pain, it's the lack of control over my own body. Is my arm going to fall of next? Am I going to suddenly go blind? When will this madness all end? (I think I know - when I die, of course.)
The final straw is that my father is starting to drive like an old man - and is scares the living crap out of me. It's frustrating driving with him, but what's worse is that it's an eerie specter of myself in 30 years. I'm going bald like him, and it's scares me that I might start driving like him. It may be a long time away, but man, am I going to be frustrated if that time ever arrives.
In my life, I have never had a cavity, and I've never broken a bone. Both of these are related to luck, but I don't expect either to change. The cavity deal is definitely luck: I haven't had a dental check-up in three years, and while I brush my teeth twice a day, that's all I do. I don't floss, I don't brush after every meal. Like I said, I'm just lucky. Maybe I have resilient teeth. Maybe all the soda I drink toughens my teeth up, or kills all the bacteria that might otherwise be in my mouth. Maybe not - it's probably luck.
As for the broken bones, well, that's also luck, but less so. I like to think I'm relatively agile (and that, of course, is lucky in and of itself, so I guess fundamentally everything is based on luck, or maybe God - I contend there's no difference), and therefore can avoid situation that might break my bones. I also don't play many sports that might result in broken bones, like hockey or football. I do play a decent amount of catching-related sports, so maybe one day I'll break a finger, but if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer not. Another reason I haven't broken any bones is because I think I'm rather flexible. This seems to come naturally - I don't really stretch before activity, but I'm starting to think that's going to have to chance.
I posted a bit ago about the "End of an Era", referring to the fact that I can no longer do my double-jointed trick, by doctor's order. Of course, I saw the doctor because I started experiencing shoulder pain, which hadn't happened before. Next to balding (which I've also written about), this was on of the big signs of my aging - my arms had never hurt me before, but they started to. Now I'm noticing that I'm feeling tightness in my hamstrings more often - maybe I really should start to stretch before softball.
Last week, I played soccer and got kicked in the knee and took a soccer ball that bent my fingers back. Both still hurt. Today, I played softball and twisted my ankle - it may be sprained. This hasn't happened to me in a long time, and I hate it. It's not the pain, it's the lack of control over my own body. Is my arm going to fall of next? Am I going to suddenly go blind? When will this madness all end? (I think I know - when I die, of course.)
The final straw is that my father is starting to drive like an old man - and is scares the living crap out of me. It's frustrating driving with him, but what's worse is that it's an eerie specter of myself in 30 years. I'm going bald like him, and it's scares me that I might start driving like him. It may be a long time away, but man, am I going to be frustrated if that time ever arrives.
Comments:
You haven't had a dental checkup in over three years? That's just dumb. Especially for you - not only is it almost certainly paid for by your work, even if it wasn't, you can easily afford it. True, you probably won't die by not going to the dentist, but if you take 1,000 random people and have them go to the dentist regularly, and take a different 1,000 random people who don't go, the 1,000 who do go will turn out better. If it's luck, then you should know that it probably won't last forever, and you should do something to put things more in your favor, like going to the dentist.
I don't think being flexible has anything to do with not breaking bones - I'd argue that any collision violent enough to break a bone (like a certain Dan Feller causing a house to fall on your back) would not be very influenced by adjoining muscles and tendons. Other than avoiding dangerous things, like rugby and extreme motorcycle jumping, I think it's all luck - you've just been in the right place at the right time - like looking down as that stupid roof fell on me instead of being down there with me. And you've been lucky not to have more car accidents.
Stretching, along with regular weight training and cardiovascular exercise, will greatly help delay the aging process, or more accurately, the negative effects of it. You should do all 3 of those regularly. If you do, you could easily, at age 55, feel better than a lot of lazy fatass americans do at age 35. Eating healthy is another thing to do to keep up your general health and youthful feelings.
Do I sound like a broken record? If so, it's because I'm right. Ignoring all that won't make it go away.
All that said, I can feel older too - kneeling down (like a baseball catcher) is quite uncomfortable for more than a few seconds, and my knees have to strain in order to stand back up. Playing sports I'm not used to makes me more sore, etc.. But is it really because I'm old at 26? Possibly, but I'd bet that it's 80% not doing enough of lifting/running/eating well and only 20% age...and I'd bet that's the case with you and most other americans too. Sitting at a computer all day is quite a different life than the life we led in college - walking 2-3 miles everyday for class, playing lots of sports, going to the gym, etc.. yes, we were younger too, but we're not very old yet - we just feel that way because we're not active enough...
-Dave Shear
I don't think being flexible has anything to do with not breaking bones - I'd argue that any collision violent enough to break a bone (like a certain Dan Feller causing a house to fall on your back) would not be very influenced by adjoining muscles and tendons. Other than avoiding dangerous things, like rugby and extreme motorcycle jumping, I think it's all luck - you've just been in the right place at the right time - like looking down as that stupid roof fell on me instead of being down there with me. And you've been lucky not to have more car accidents.
Stretching, along with regular weight training and cardiovascular exercise, will greatly help delay the aging process, or more accurately, the negative effects of it. You should do all 3 of those regularly. If you do, you could easily, at age 55, feel better than a lot of lazy fatass americans do at age 35. Eating healthy is another thing to do to keep up your general health and youthful feelings.
Do I sound like a broken record? If so, it's because I'm right. Ignoring all that won't make it go away.
All that said, I can feel older too - kneeling down (like a baseball catcher) is quite uncomfortable for more than a few seconds, and my knees have to strain in order to stand back up. Playing sports I'm not used to makes me more sore, etc.. But is it really because I'm old at 26? Possibly, but I'd bet that it's 80% not doing enough of lifting/running/eating well and only 20% age...and I'd bet that's the case with you and most other americans too. Sitting at a computer all day is quite a different life than the life we led in college - walking 2-3 miles everyday for class, playing lots of sports, going to the gym, etc.. yes, we were younger too, but we're not very old yet - we just feel that way because we're not active enough...
-Dave Shear
# posted by 
: October 7, 2004 at 12:04 AM
: October 7, 2004 at 12:04 AM
Blah blah blah. Do you realize that half of what I write is just to be funny? You sound old - maybe not as physically old, but like a crotchety old man. Maybe you need to exercise your mental flexibility!
By the way, I've maintained the relatively same lifestyle (moderately active in spurts, lifting weights on and off) for the past 4 years - why do I only feel the effects now? And I'm actually eating healthier now than I did when I graduated.
What are you doing posting? There's a great baseball game going on! What am I doing replying?
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By the way, I've maintained the relatively same lifestyle (moderately active in spurts, lifting weights on and off) for the past 4 years - why do I only feel the effects now? And I'm actually eating healthier now than I did when I graduated.
What are you doing posting? There's a great baseball game going on! What am I doing replying?
