No matter where you are in the journey of life, it’s not too late to make different fitness choices. Aging is inevitable. I do not want to look back on my life and wish that I made different choices. I want to make those choices now (even in my 60’s) that will help me continue to live a full and healthy life.
Questions to Answer
Life is not a dress rehearsal with a second act that comes along later. We have one life to live. When thinking about this, there are two important questions that need to be answered:
- How do you define good health and fitness?
- How do you want to age?
There is no right or wrong answer. Everyone will have different expectations for their life. Take some time to think about and write down your answers. These thoughts will help define your “why” on your journey of living and aging.
Fitness Involves Movement
When I think of health and fitness, some of the elements I think of are movements and activities. Every living creature is meant to move. Instead of looking at exercise as a punishment, exercise can be looked at as a celebration of life. Anyone can do it. Exercise is a great strategy to manage stress, create longevity, and develop a healthy lifestyle. It should be part of everyone’s health and fitness choice and plan.
Avoid the Easy Fix
We sometimes make choices based on an easy fix. These might address the symptom, but they really do not fix the problem. Looking for the quick fix can ignore the underlying root cause. Suppressing the symptom is never the answer.
A non-fitness example of a quick fix is when a piano needs a tune up. One option is to ignore the sound and continue to play the piano even though it does not sound right. Another choice is to work around the off-sounding keys and play songs that don’t use these keys. A third choice is to ignore the piano and stop playing it all together. All three of these examples are quick fixes to the problem. They suppress the symptom. The piano needs attention and needs to be tuned up, that is the way to fix the underlying cause.
Don’t let your body or your fitness level become an untuned piano. Like a tuned piano, a healthy body functions at its highest capability. It is not too late to make different fitness choices.