What can we do?

Where do you start when you have a lot to say but yet don’t know where to start? Or if you are not sure you should say anything at all.

So much is going on right now. We’re still in the Covid-19 mess. The numbers are climbing again at an alarming rate. This doesn’t seem like much until it hits home. Recently a friend’s mom died from Covid-19, just shy of her 90^th birthday.

She had been healthy and other than her age, had very few health concerns. She caught it from somebody. Yet people are still yelling that their rights are being taken away when they are required to wear a mask to protect others.

It’s a tough time to be in law enforcement. Defund the police? A ridiculous idea. Some of the most honorable and dedicated people that I know are in law enforcement. The huge majority are dependable, responsible professionals.

But get this straight—there are bad eggs in every profession. There are physical therapists who are doing things that are terribly wrong. There are bad lawyers, doctors, educators…everything. No profession is immune. So when a bad egg emerges, don’t condemn all the good ones.

Yes, racism is still an issue. I thought we fixed all that in the 60’s but that was barely the start. Too many people judge people by the color of their skin. If that were a rare and isolated behavior, I might be able to accept it. It isn’t and I can’t. We need to be anti-racist, not just non-racist.

Let me tell you a story from a conversation I had recently with a man I consider one of my children. This fellow is black. His daughter, my goddaughter, is black. “When my daughter leaves the house, I tell her to stay under the speed limit, if she is stopped, she is to put her hands on the steering wheel and be polite. If she is being harassed by someone, keep driving—find a policeman. What did you tell your white son when he left the house?”

I would tell him to be safe and have fun. I didn’t worry that some random stranger was going to do anything bad to him because of the color of his skin. A black father doesn’t have that luxury. Even today. Maybe especially today.

We are living in sad times.

Businesses everywhere are struggling, especially small businesses. My friends at Savory Rootz had to close their doors. They had a great place with great food and service. They just couldn’t survive the Stay-At-Home. Tragic. They put their heart and soul in that place. 

Maybe they will be able to open again. If they do, please flock there in droves.

I’m not saying it was wrong to shut everything down. I believe it was the right thing to do. But goodness gracious what a cost it extracted. It will take the economy years to recover.

I’ll apologize beforehand but I’m going to talk politics for a moment. Two topics I avoid talking about here are religion and politics. But sometimes I can’t help myself.

There’s a saying in government, “you’re either at the table or we’re having you for lunch.” What that means is that you’ve got to be in the arena. You have a voice—you have to use it. 

You might whine “I’m just one person…what can I do?”

Let me tell you a story. In 2007, there was a bill working its way through the state legislature that would allow someone to see a physical therapist without a referral. That bill was bogged down in a committee because of partisan politics.

It passed out of that committee because one legislator stepped across the aisle and voted against her party leadership. That one legislator was influenced by one physical therapist who had done nothing more than provide good physical therapy. The legislator didn’t forget the value of that physical therapist.

I hear people all the time saying that they can’t stand politics. I would argue that each of us has an obligation to be an engaged member of the political process. If nothing else, you have a vote. And a voice.

Right now, schools are agonizing about opening back up. Do we? What precautions should we take? Making the news regularly are questions about the upcoming sports seasons. Do we play? If we play, what precautions do we take? How can we even consider practicing where contact is unavoidable?

My opinion? Games will be played. Schools will open. Temperatures will be taken. Every precaution possible will be utilized. There will be fewer fans in the stands. Some students will opt for the virtual classroom. We won’t know if we’re doing the right thing until we get back into it.

Do we need for our kids to be in school? Heavens yes. But how do we go about doing that? I don’t have all the answers because there are too many things that we don’t know about this stuff. The science hasn’t caught up with the disease.

Are sports more important than our health? Oh heavens no. Do we need sports? Yes. Definitely. I wrote about that a couple of weeks ago.

When it comes down to it, YOU are the only one that can decide about you. Only YOU can decide what behaviors you choose. Only YOU can make a difference.

But wear the dadgum mask! What harm can it do? And you might have saved the life of my friend’s mom. Even if that’s a big maybe, is it still worth it if there’s any possibility that you could be wrong?

At what age are you too old to exercise?

Anybody that knows me sees that question and knows that I have my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. For those of you too young to understand that, it means I’m kidding. Really.


I talked about prevention last week, offering guidelines for preventing illness and injuries. But what about preventing old age? Isn’t it inevitable? If you live long enough, aren’t you going to get old anyway? Well yeah, but how do you want to spend those golden years?


First, let’s define “old.” Years ago (many years ago) I would declare that “middle-aged” was whatever I was plus 10. I’m well past middle-aged so we can’t use that one. But that still doesn’t define what is old.

Maybe old is what I am now plus 10.  That would make "old" officially at 77.  Maybe. 


My dad had a friend who declared on his 80^th birthday “I’m officially old and no one can argue with me now.” I get that. Even as I fast approach that threshold.


OK. Let’s use 80 as the barometer. Does that mean that anything less than 80 isn’t old? I’ve known 60 year olds that were positively ancient. They dress old. They walk old. They think old. They talk old.


I also know that my 90 year old neighbor will outwork people a third of his age. He maintains a several acre yard and a big house and there is no one that meets him that would ever believe that he is 90. I saw him working on his house recently on a stepladder. How many people 90 do you see doing that?


He’s always worked. He’s always taken care of his own place. He just never stopped. Still hasn’t. He bought a truck recently to help carry stuff around. His only concession seems to be a golf cart, but as I said, he has a really big yard.


So, what is the secret? How do we both live long and live well? Is there a Fountain of Youth out there?


I believe there is. I believe that our own Fountain of Youth can be found in movement. A very long time ago, I studied Physics. One basic principle in Physics is that “a body in motion tends to stay in motion while a body at rest tends to stay at rest.”


I believe that is true for us too. If you move, if you never stop, you will be able to stay in motion. On the other hand, if you don’t move, if the recliner is your constant companion, you will get to the point where you can’t move.


Make sense? Let me put it in a personal perspective. I’m not a gifted athlete. My aerobic capacity is quite mediocre. I’ve not got broad shoulders and I’m sure not going to win any races. In other words, I’m an Average Joe.


But I’ve never stopped. I’m always in motion. Always have been. And because of that, I don’t move nor behave like I’m 67 years old. Mountain biking. Road biking. Hiking. CrossFit. Farm work. It’s always something.


Do you have to join a gym and lift weights? Heavens no. Most of us need strength training because we lose muscle mass as we get older but you can set up a home gym and do that on your own.


Don’t ignore body weight exercises. Pushups, pullups, situps, jumping jacks…they require no equipment but are effective tools for strength training. Building endurance doesn’t mean that you have to run a marathon or sit on a bicycle for 3-4 hours. It means simply that you get your heart rate up for 20-30 minutes.


You can stretch. You can build balance by standing on one leg. You can take the stairs. You can take a yoga class. But you’ve got to move. Movement is everything.


The answer to the original question? NEVER! You’re never too old to exercise. It can add quality and quantity to your life.