Not long ago I read a 1987 book called, Body Worry by an overweight, overfed and under exercised writer named Remar Sutton. He took off from his job to spend a year getting in shape, and to become a “hunk” with bulging muscles, and writing about it as he went along. He wrote a series of articles published in the Washington Post among other publications examining his experiences and commenting on them. Some of you will remember those articles.
He said he was totally focused on his looks and overall appearance and health was not his major concern. He wanted muscles.
So, he packed up and ran off to the Bahamas for a year in the sun and a year of exercise, working with a team of high powered medical and fitness experts to reshape his body into a muscular Adonis.
But, sometime during his journey, he realized that he was not going to become the super muscled hunk he wanted to be. Instead, he found that with exercise, he would realize his goal of becoming a good looking “hunk”, but rather than having the huge, bulging muscles he started out wanting, he developed a lean, toned body and was filled with an energy and vitality he never experienced before.
Why is all that relevant? Well, it simply emphasizes what this blog and The Come Alive Project is all about.
So, What Is It All About?
These articles are not about having big, bulging muscles or running an ultra-marathon, or being “SuperSenior” or anything close to that. Instead, they are about you having a toned, fit and healthy body along with the energy and vitality that will help keep your mind and body functioning at a high level — longer than normal. It’s about you having the physical ability to do the things you want to do, and remaining independent for as long as you live. It’s about you enjoying feeling alive.
It’s about being as strong and fit at 70 as you were at 50. It’s about keeping your old body young and healthy, and keeping your mind active and alert.
It’s about being able to get out of a chair or getting up from the floor easily and gracefully.
It’s about being able to keep your balance and avoid falling.
It’s about being able to look in the mirror and saying: “I like what I see”.
It’s about coming alive and enjoying your senior life with the energy and vitality to enjoy the experience. It’s about being able to say to yourself today and ten years from today, “I look and feel alive!”
That’s what it’s all about.
I hope you get something from these short articles and I thank you for taking the time to read them.
And as you read these articles, always remember to:
Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.” — Bruce Lee
Thank you for reading.