No doubt you’ve heard the expression ‘getting old isn’t for sissies’. Getting old, for one having lived a life impacted by disability, as is the case for me, is no easy feat but I’m hanging in there.
I see lots of people my age who are aging badly when there is another way — a better way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling anyone how to live their life, but it really does make me wonder why people abuse their body to the point of ill health, creating sometimes irreversible situations.
On a daily basis, many eat unhealthy food that, to be honest, cannot be called food at all. Marketing ploys hook us with the promise of ‘the best tasting’, or ‘will leave you wanting more’. It’s actually consuming more that gets us into trouble.
Filler food, as I call it, because it it fills in around the stomach, the hips, the derriere, the neck, and has no nutritional value. To compound the state of unwellness, exercise is ignored. Even a daily walk would go a long way to improving health and wellness. Those compromised by a gut full of visceral fat and that extra chin along with pain in the hips and ankles need to get serious about assessing what they’re doing to their body. Also critical is sufficient hydration which enables all parts of the body to work together; like a well-oiled machine, parts have to be maintained. Visceral fat is dangerous — a form of gel-like fat that's actually wrapped around major organs, including the liver, pancreas and kidneys. Do you see yourself in that description? Are you going to do something about it?
Stand in front your mirror stark naked and take a good long look. What do you see? What would you want to change, knowing that only you can make the changes? Choose 2 lifestyle habits. Two is do-able.
Youngsters being diagnosed with adult-onset diseases is a scary reality and those rising numbers contribute to the population of unhealthy and ‘at risk’. Those numbers must come down and parents have a duty to say no; “No, you may not go to McDonald’s. You’re staying in for dinner and you’ll eat what the rest of us are having. Period.” Cook the family meal together, plan menus. Let’s get healthy.
The adults in the home need to pull themselves up by the proverbial bootstraps and accept that their chaotic life style and life choices may well be killing them. Children learn what they live and if examples set by parents are rooted in a series of bad choices, day after day, their problems are no longer just their problems. They’re everyone’s problem. With a commitment to making changes, problems will go away or at the very least their impact will be minimized.
Recently, several of my friends became grandparents, some for the first time and a few others are enjoying their 2nd and 3rd grandchild. Are they rethinking lifestyle choices? Choices that will no doubt impact the quality and the length of the time they enjoy with those little people in their world. Will they get naked and stand at the mirror to give their bodies a long, hard look. They might not want to, but they must.
In a way, I’m at an advantage as I approach my 64th year. Living with the challenges of an awkward gait and poor balance, I’ve adapted my environment to my needs from the get-go so I’ve always been ready for the slowing down that often comes with 6 decades of living.
I can’t let pride get in my way with regard to my health/wellness and safety, so if I need help with something I know I cannot do or should not do, I ask for it. As I was contemplating the deconstruction of Christmas aka taking it all down and putting it all away, I became mentally overwhelmed. Most of you are able to walk and carry things with both hands. I don’t have that luxury. Yes, it is a luxury. I have to carry an item with one hand and use my other to balance. I got smart with table top Christmas ornaments. Those in the TV room, I put on the seat of the walker and pushed it to the kitchen gate where they were transferred to a dining chair. That chair was then rolled into the spare room, with Mr. Digby in hot pursuit. He watched as I returned the festive collectibles to the shelf in the closet. I repeated the chair transfer with ornaments in the living room. Other collectibles I was able to get downstairs to the cubby under the stairs, again, using only one hand to carry.
I can’t let pride get in my way with regard to my health/wellness and safety, so if I need help with something I know I cannot do or should not do, I ask for it. As I was contemplating the deconstruction of Christmas aka taking it all down and putting it all away, I became mentally overwhelmed. Most of you are able to walk and carry things with both hands. I don’t have that luxury. Yes, it is a luxury. I have to carry an item with one hand and use my other to balance. I got smart with table top Christmas ornaments. Those in the TV room, I put on the seat of the walker and pushed it to the kitchen gate where they were transferred to a dining chair. That chair was then rolled into the spare room, with Mr. Digby in hot pursuit. He watched as I returned the festive collectibles to the shelf in the closet. I repeated the chair transfer with ornaments in the living room. Other collectibles I was able to get downstairs to the cubby under the stairs, again, using only one hand to carry.
The tree’s still up in the TV room. I’m thinkin’ Christmas in July.
Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca
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