~~
You know as I progress through life I realize that a statement that I heard recently makes more and more sense to me. The statement went like this; "You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old."
If I dissect this sentiment we can all agree that we cannot stop the hands on our "time clock". We are all "progressing though life" as I like to politely remind my patients, rather than using the slap in the face statement; "You know you are getting older!" So, let's start this discussion with the understanding that we are all "progressing through life." That is one of Einstein's principles that none of us can refute.
Now, let's look at the second component of this statement; "but you don't have to get old." Think about that for a moment. If you get this part of the quote you are half way there. As I reflect on this sentiment it becomes more and more apparent to me that we must take care of our physical bodies through our Eat Right, Move Right, and Sleep Right components of our "Four Pillars of Health" that I have laid out for you. And, while it is critical to your overall Health and Wellness Paradigm that you follow these three components, you must also take care of pillar number four as well. That pillar of course is the Think Right component. With your Think Right however there will be some overlay from the Sleep Right also. We can all agree that if our Sleep Right is off, so too will be our Think Right. With a lack of sleep we will begin to have difficulty making decisions. Our clarity of thought will be compromised, and we will begin to experience fear relative to many things that occur in our lives. When this fear begins to pervade our every thought, we can then begin to experience varying degrees of paranoia. I think that we can also all agree as well that each one of the Four Pillars can impact the others. But for this discussion let's focus on this fourth pillar, the "Think Right".
So, how does this component impact our ability to not "get old" you might ask? Think about this fact of life for a moment, which was exposed to me decades ago by a vicarious mentor of mine, Napoleon Hill. Mr. Hill was hired without pay to interview the most successful individuals in the world at the time, and find out what made them successful. I would love for you all to read Mr. Hill's book, and if you intend to, don't read the rest of this paragraph. I don't want to spoil it for you. But, for the rest of you I will let you in on the secret of Mr. Hill's studies and interviews. You see the simple fact is that "You become what you think about!" It is that simple, but wait, is it? You see, every day you program your mind to think a certain way. We are conditioned by our parents as children, then by our siblings, classmates, spouses, co-workers, friends and business associates. We all develop a certain perception about ourselves, and our world.
Let's dissect this one a little further. You see, if you think about it our mind's eye depicts how old we are. Our mind tells us that we can't do A, B, or C because "we are too old for that." We have certain mores that are implicit in our culture and our society that keep us from acting or thinking about ourselves in ways that deviate from those specific cultural guidelines. Think about George H. W. Bush as an example. Now, you can agree or disagree with his political views but that is not the point. The point is that this WWII fighter pilot, at age 90 decided that he wanted to dive out of a plane for his birthday. O.K., for those of you who want to focus on the details, he did do this in tandem strapped to another diver. I will give him a pass on that one, and you should too, because even strapped to someone else I am sure that many of you who are not even octogenarians yet would do the same. You see, he knew that he could do the jump. He saw it in his mind's eye, and as a result he did it.
So, let's just carry this concept a step further. Let's all agree that the body will respond to what the mind is feeding to the body. You have all seen the guy who is down on his luck. What happens to his posture? Does he stand up straight and tall? No, of course not. His stance is most likely stooped, as he gazes at the ground. His gait has changes as well. No longer does he have a spring in his step, and a smile on his face. He has a different perception of himself. He no longer feels "worthy" perhaps.
What about the person who is gaining in years? What happens to him or her? Well, we know much of the process. The gait slows down. The posture begins to slump, and as I call it "cave in". The voice may even change. It may be weaker, and crackle more. These are all of the physical changes that we may observe. But, what about the self-inflicted, or preconceived mental changes that are allowed to occur by many?
Well, let's start with the understanding or concept that everyone must retire at 65 years. Why do we do this? If you really look at the history of this magic number, you will learn that it came from medieval Europe. Kings imposed this mandatory loss of income to control contenders for the throne. Yet we still have this imaginary number in our culture in spite of the fact that we are living longer, and are productive for many more years than we were decades ago. It is also a fact that when some people retire and no longer feel that they can contribute and be productive, their perception of themselves changes and they die sooner than those who continue to lead productive lives even in retirement.
What else do we have happen? We see that many individuals do not even attempt to keep pace with the changes that are occurring around them. I have to say that I am not, like many of my contemporaries, very computer literate. I knew however that in order to keep pace with the changing times I had to learn. All of the articles that I write were once dictated and transcribed. Today, I complete them all on a laptop. I must admit that once I got over the initial fear and shock of doing my writing on a laptop, it truly is more enjoyable, and also much more efficient.
The one thing that I will reiterate, which I have mentioned before in many of my articles is this; you must adapt to the inevitable changes that WILL OCCUR in your life. Remember that "the only constant in your life is change." Welcome this change, and Think Right about yourself relative to these changes. Have a Great self-image of yourself as you "progress through life." I know that you all have your sky diving dreams. Now all that you have to do is go live them. And I don't want any of you to let anyone else convince you that you can't, or dissuade you from pursuing your dreams, regardless of how old you are. You are in control of your destiny, and how you Think Right can control how well you "get old".
Come and learn from Dr. Pfeiffer how you can stay healthy at this free seminars