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A friend sent me one of those emails with a series of pictures and quotations from active Seniors. Most emails like this are humorous or sarcastic. These however are worth passing on. Each contains a bit of well considered wisdom from which I think we can all derive great value. I am only relaying the quotes and not the pictures. I thank the folks at growingbolder.com for the quotes.

I have included those I think would be of the most value to you. Please enjoy these as much as I do, and I hope you get the same value from them as I did:

1. From a 91 year old dancer, writer, singer, musician, and trapeze artist:

“I listen. I love and I live. Your body know what to do. You mind gets in the way.”

2. From an 88 year old figure skater:

“As you grow older, if you don’t move, you won’t move.”

3. From a 78 year old Metal Sculptor:

“Every morning when I wake up I say, ‘I’ll never be as young as I am today Today is the youngest day of the rest of my life. Get up and do something fun.”

4. From a 94 year old World Masters Rowing Champion:

“We have confused illness with the process of aging, which can be thoroughly healthy. Illness is not a necessary part of aging.”

5. From a 99 year old World Record Holder (The picture shows her doing push-ups):

“Eat for nutrition, not for taste. Do what you need to do, not what you want to do and don’t leave out your daily exercise. Love yourself.”

6. From a 102 year old cowgirl:

“You don’t let that rocking chair take over. You get up and go even if you don’t want to.”

7. From an 80 year old skydiver, windsurfer, skier and swimmer:

“If you dream about something enough, it can come true. It happened to me.”

8. From a 100 year old, billed as the Worlds Oldest Barmaid:

“It’s better than sitting around. I meet lovely people.”

9. From an 80 year old comedian:

“I’ve reached the age where I’m seriously thinking about what I’ll be when I come back.”

 These are all great quotes. Thank you to Growingbolder.com who are credited with originating these quotes, and to my friend for passing them along to me. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. While most of us have a ways to go before we are where these folks are, I think they represent the attitude we should all have toward our own aging process. These people have obviously found their fountain of youth and are fully engaged in the flow of life.

Thank you for reading.

 

 

Most men and women entering their Senior years today talk about retirement: a life of security and ease, with few cares in the world. When what they’re really after is a relief from boredom, a more active and healthy lifestyle, and relief from worry about things like long, lingering illness, falling, or being a burden on society. As Joseph Campbell said, “I think people are really looking for an experience of being alive.”

So, imagine what it feels like to wake up in the morning feeling really alive, looking forward to the day ahead, and having the energy and vitality to be able to spend your day active and productive — doing the things you want to do and not being dependent on having others tell you how to get through your day.

Or how about this. Imagine being in total control of your body and mind, with the strength and agility to avoid falls, the ability to climb stairs with comfort and ease, the ability to bend and twist and move your body any way you want to — total mastery over the way you move and control your body — as well as total control over the way you think and use your mind as you go through life.

Imagine how good it feels to be comfortable with the idea of being or doing anything you have ever wanted to do with your life and just haven’t done yet for one reason or another.

This isn’t a pipe dream, and in fact Seniors everywhere are beginning to realize that getting older is no longer a true barrier to doing whatever they want to do with the rest of their lives. And Seniors from most of the world are living longer, feeling better, and living in the Flow of Life, than at any time in world history. The current generation of Seniors is on the leading edge of the new movement of Seniors who expect more from themselves than just the normal perks of retirement.

And today’s Seniors who get physically fit and transform their mindset for living, energize themselves with a vitality that Seniors of previous generations could only dream of. Fortunately, Seniors today have a better knowledge of exercise, nutrition and the other attributes of living longer lives, and they are putting that knowledge to use to delay the onset of rusty hinges, brittle bones and the other accoutrements of aging that previous generations incurred much earlier.

When we adopt those principles of healthy aging we can be a truly valuable part of society and not a burden on it. And that’s a blessing for our generation and for the generations behind us. It’s a great time to be a Senior!

Thank you for reading.

Being old and all, I go to several doctors of different areas of practice. During visits to the last three, retail diet products and nutritional supplements were being promoted by the doctors in their offices.

One: My Cardiologist has his pre-packaged dietary meal plan products displayed prominently in his waiting room. He also sells supplements to help treat Sleep Apnea. Besides providing periodic visits and tests, he once recommended that I take a Sleep Apnea test even though I don’t display any symptoms. He knows I eat a pretty healthful diet and has never pushed nutritional meal plans on me.

Two: I just had my annual “Wellness Exam” with my Primary Care Physician. I don’t think they call them “Physical Exams” anymore. He has “before and after” pictures of people who have purchased his nutritional weight loss plans, displayed on the walls in his examination rooms. He used to give seminars on weight reduction using pre-packaged food products and nutritional supplements. He used to display the products but I only saw the “before and after” posters this visit.

Three: Earlier this month, I had my annual eye examination. I got new eyeglasses and tests for macular degeneration. The Optometrist suggested that I “may” have the beginning of macular degeneration. She opened a drawer and offered to sell me a dietary supplement that only Optometrists sold. It would help delay the onset of macular degeneration. She said I could buy an over the counter product, but hers had better “stuff” in it. I asked what the “stuff” was and she said it was lutein and zeaxanthin. I asked what foods I could eat that would provide me with the same “stuff”. She told me to eat a lot of green leafy vegetables. I told her I’d eat the lettuce, spinach and kale. I didn’t tell her what she could do with her “stuff”.

Selling retail products used to be considered unethical and a “conflict of interest”. In 1999, the AMA barely passed guidelines for medical professionals who sell nutritional supplements and skin care products as part of their practice. Many in the AMA still considered that practice to be a conflict. The matter came up initially because many doctors were involved in Multi-level marketing programs at the time and were selling the products directly to patients. But then they transitioned into selling regular, but “doctor approved” retail products.

I like all my doctors but they all know my attitude toward promoting products from their offices. They don’t push anything on me and they know that I won’t buy anything from them. We leave it at that.

I don’t really know what the AMA’s opinion is today about doctors selling nutritional supplements or pre-packaged weight loss meal plans. It seems like a real conflict of interest to me and an area where trust in a medical professional could really be compromised. I would be interested in your experience with it. If you would care to share any experience you have had, email me at bob@thecomealiveproject.com and tell me about it.

Thank you for letting me share this rant with you, and thank you for reading.