Me and my big mouth. I have always said to people that I don't mind aging one bit. When I turned 40, well, whee! I find that life gets more and more interesting as I get older, because I understand and appreciate more, and am less driven by rash enthusiasm. What's not to like?
I may need to revise my policy. I'm starting to get an intimation of why old folks complain all the time about their aches and pains.
On Sunday afternoon, I sat on my glasses. That is my bifocals. Yes, I had to get bifocals three years ago ("Most men don't have to get them till they're 41," my optometrist said, unhelpfully). They were most definitely cracked beyond repair. Luckily I had my old pair of specs around here, else I would have been miserable -- not blind, actually, but effectively so, inasmuch as I would have been constantly nauseous and headachy with eye strain absent the spares. My new bifocals won't be in till next week, thanks to the socialist vision care plan I have. And bifocals are expensive. Harrumph! You kids get off my lawn.
Worse, this was the year that my Raynaud's kicked in bigtime. It's a condition, rare in men, in which the capillaries of the fingers, toes and nose go into spasm as a reaction to cold, causing the blood to drain out of them. It was merely annoying before, but this year it's a real problem. I have to sleep at night wearing heavy socks and even slippers, and as of last week, gloves. It's crazy, but I have no choice. I love cold weather, but if my hands and feet are this cold in the relatively mild Dallas winter, what if I lived in a place that was truly cold?
Up next: the appearance of an unappeasable craving for the Early Bird Special?
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I too have what doctors diagnosed as "severe Raynaud's Disease" when I developed minor frostbite in D.C. I do think it has gotten worse with age. I'm moving to your city of Dallas from Florida in two weeks and am very worried that my Raynaud's is going to be a problem. Thanks for the heads up!
My new bifocals won't be in till next week, thanks to the socialist vision care plan I have.
What, the state of Texas is paying for your bifocals? The city of Dallas? The federal government? I think the vision care plan you have is probably pure lassez-faire capitalism.
The trick to this getting old thing is to keep active. We just can't stay sedentary as we advance in years and expect to keep the same level of health we had when we were younger. Ain't gonna happen.
I feel fortunate in that having lived with chronic illness since childhood (asthma), I learned very early how to manage bodily discomfort and pain. I also learned -- through a LOT of exploration -- alternative, non-medical ways of improving my symptoms. Instead of reaching for pills, which often come with bad side effects and can cause problems of their own.
I'm only 31, but I've been watching my friends and family as they age. I've realized that there are some people who are amazingly fit well into their 80s, and there are those who start to get crotchety at 35. The people who don't seem to age: 1) made it a point to always stay fit, able, and active, and 2) sought out authentically healthy diets (particularly by opting out of the industrialized food system -- avoiding ALL processed, packaged or refined foods, relying totally on whole foods, eating liberally of meats and dairy from grass-fed sources, and preparing their foods according to more traditional food-prep methods).
The anonymous post at 11:14 was me. Weird, weird comment software.
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