Hold old are you?

Ok...this one is going to seem a little redundant.  Well, maybe a whole lot redundant.  It's just that toward the end of January, commitment to those resolutions is beginning to wane and gym participation is dropping off like a dropped rock.

So some reminding about why we need to sustain those promises and resolutions seems in order.  I guess when you're in your 20's, good health is taken for granted and living a long life is presumed.  Once you hit your 30's, maybe mortality becomes a bit of an issue.

So some friends and I played a game recently, sort of.  You might call it the Satchel Page game. Page is widely quoted as asking the question "how old would you be if you didn't know when you were born."  In other words, how old do you feel?

 I admit that there are days after Steve Bright has kicked my butt all over the countryside on the back of a bike that I feel really old.  Like 63 or something.  Other days I feel like I can take on the world. 

But in this game, it wasn' t my choice.  Others in the group picked your age for you.  I won't admit what age the others came up for me but let's just say that I might hang out with some pretty delusional people.

We've all been taught to "act your age" but if you didn't know your age, does that mean you wouldn't know how to act?

So here's the lesson for the day:  Live your life in such a way that the candles on your birthday cake really don't matter.

Don't be pigeonholed into being "middle aged" or "really old" or any other handle that others might hang on you.  How do you do that?

Here comes absolutely no surprise--you've got to exercise.  A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how you need to throw some balance activities into your exercise regimen, especially as you get older (which, by the way, is pretty much everybody).

You've also got to eat better.  I'm convinced that means decreased carbohydrate intake.  Fats are not the culprit that we used to think they were.  Eat simply.  One word foods.

Build better relationships.  We are the accumulated product of those we choose to live our lives with.  Choose wisely.  And love unconditionally.  Research clearly indicates that healthy relationships improve not only the quality of our lives but the quantity as well.

Live in the moment as often as you can.  I read a study recently that tied unhappiness with thinking about something other than what you are doing.  Sort of a "be in the now" attitude. 

Think about it.  If you allow yourself to be distracted, if you worry about things all the time (particularly those things that you can't do anything about), you aren't going to be at your best.  Unhappiness most surely then will follow.

Think young.  I don't mean dress in torn blue jeans. But I've got friends my age that dress and act like they're...well let's just say that they look they're 20 years older than what they are. 

I've said for a long time that aging is a matter of mind over matter.  If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.