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You are older today and your body has changed. Or you are getting older and your body is changing. Be aware of and acknowledge the limits that time has imposed on you. Then accept them as your current reality. What is, is!

Accepting those limits as current reality doesn’t mean that they can’t be be increased, changed or even eliminated. It only means that they exist now. And often we are stopped before we start by what we only perceive as limitations.

If you have been reading these articles, it may well be because you recognize these current or upcoming “limitations” and you are looking for ideas and thoughts about how to recognize, accept, acknowledge and then overcome them.  You want to do something about the potentially debilitating physical and mental effects of aging before they get too serious. You would like to stay healthy and become more fit. You want to remain mentally and physically active.

Personal Development gurus say there are no limits. That’s simply not true. Of course there are limits. We each have our physical limitations. My wife had knee replacement surgery a few years back. Even with Physical Therapy, her knee joint will only rotate a certain number of degrees past 90 degrees. Her range of motion is limited by the physical constraints of the artificial knee. She is not physically capable of doing squats or deep knee bends as deeply as you or me.

And Bruce Lee, the well known martial artist, movie actor and sometime philosopher was fond of telling people that one of his legs was an inch shorter than the other, a limitation for a martial artist which he turned into an advantage for certain kinds of “kicks” — because of it, rather than being limited by it. He was also nearsighted and had trouble seeing his opponents until he finally got contact lenses.

When we recognize them, acknowledge them, and accept them as current reality, then we know that we can work within the existing limits on our body, to improve them and create a “new and improved” reality.

“Our limits are not limits, only plateaus” — Me. I just made that up. Not bad, huh?

How about perceived limitations that aren’t really there? How about self-limitation? Bruce Lee suggested that most limitation is self-limitation. He said: “There are no limits, only those limits we impose upon ourselves.”  I would add, “… or those we create ourselves in our minds.”

What may be a limitation now can, with effort and practice, be eliminated. Our bodies may be only capable of so much today, but  may be able to exceed that limit after only a few weeks, or months. As long as we work within our limitations, we can improve them safely and effectively until they diminish or disappear. And that’s something we should strive for.

Thank you for reading.

At age 76, I probably have at least 20 more years ahead of me. Fifteen of those will most likely be really good years, then probably slowing down slightly for five more (but still active), and then who knows, maybe a few months of quick decline at the end.

I want to not only live those years, but I want to live alive those 15 or 20 good years I have left. I believe you want to do the same with your life, too.

That means we must do things, physical and mental, that will keep our mind and body at their peak.

That means exercise, eating healthfully, breathing deeply, getting plenty of rest and sleep, as well as keeping mentally sharp and being proactive in the way we think and act. It means generating an energy and enthusiasm for life that will carry us all those future years whether today we are 50, 60, 70 or even 80 and beyond.

What do I mean by living alive and finding your Fountain of Youth? Here are some answers . . . *

• You are able to do nearly all the things that you personally want to do on a day to day basis, with plenty in reserve to do more.
• You have a strong and effective immune system, helping you combat long, lingering chronic illness.
• You are mobile, flexible, and able to move your muscles and joints through their entire range of motion, limited only by injury or disability.
• Your muscles and bones are healthy and strong. You are able to push things, pull things, lift things, carry things, bend and twist, keep your balance, and move from point A to point B at your own leisure.
• You have a strong infrastructure of ligaments, tendons, joints and internal organs.
• You have a strong cardio-respiratory system.
• You are able to maintain good posture.
• You have the Personal Energy to get through the day with a smile on your face, and plenty left over in reserve.
• You have massive enthusiasm for life, and depression is only fleeting at most. You have a positive attitude about living.
• You have the ability to overcome inertia. When you want to do something, you go ahead and do it, moving out of your immediate comfort zone.
• You are friends with the floor. You have the ability to get down to the floor and up again with little or no difficulty.  You are able to catch yourself or slow yourself in the event of a fall, to prevent or minimize any injury.
• You feel good physically and are comfortable in your own skin.
• You are enjoying the “experience” of being alive.

This list is certainly not complete.  Some may have other ideas as to their definitions of health, fitness and personal energy.  These are some of mine.

You get most of your personal energy from using the tools of good exercise, nutritious food, plenty of oxygen, rest and sleep, and a “Come Alive Attitude” toward yourself and your life.

And that’s what The Come Alive Project and these articles are all about — to explore these tools with you — to help you implement them in a way that works for you — to help you find your own Fountain of Youth — to come alive, stay alive, and live alive as long as you are alive!

Thank you for reading.

*This list is adapted from Energy Bite 96, published in July of 2015.