Signs of the Times

Over the past few years I have finally had to come to grips that my body is finally catching up to my age. At age 40 I am still young at heart. I like to work in the yard (when its not over 100 degrees out). I like to dance around the house to music I like. I like to swim with the kids and play racquetball (when I get the chance). I am, by all means not an old man! Yet there have been some signs of the aging process, and how I am perceived by the "younger" generation.

The first sign that I was not as young as I thought came to me when I was teaching an 8th Grade class of kids. I was listening to my "80's Music" on my stereo in the room. The kids came into class, and they stopped. They looked at me and told me to "turn off the oldies music." Turn off the oldies music! My music is not oldies...or is it. I thought for a minute and finally figured it out. My parent's generation of music from the 60's was "oldies" to me, twenty years later. That must mean that my music from the 80's is "oldies music" to the 2000's generation. Wow! I listen to oldies music. My parent's music is classic. Hmmmm!

The next step came when was sitting on the floor with my kids and I realized my knees hurt pretty bad when I tried to get up. I'm to young to have knee problems. Still today, my knees get a little cranky with me if I fail to get up and walk them around often.

In college I used to run/jog all the time. It was a requirement for the military and I just liked to run. I would run at least two miles every other day. Earlier this year, my daughter was preparing for her belt-test for karate, which requires a one-mile run. I wanted to help her prepare so I mapped out a one mile course through our neighborhood. We took off one afternoon, and I almost died! I made it through the jog, but it was tough. Not the fun run I had when I was younger.

Finally the weight gain! When I was in college I could eat like a hog, and never gain a pound. But over the past 10 years, I have gained almost 20 pounds. It might not seem like a lot to some, but for me that is huge. I am a small framed fellow, and all the extra weight went right to the gut. Which in turn makes it tough to jog.

Ok, so my body is protesting a little as the years go by, but my mind is still young, and I am only half finished with my life. I plan to live to be 100! So crank up the 80's music and have a good dance!