Daily Musings
I read an article recently about the dangers of shoveling snow, and the risk it poses to older people. Every winter I read an like this one warning about shoveling snow, and every year I’m amazed by the message (although by this point I’m not sure why). The message is always something like ‘avoid strenuous activity’ and do less, with little to no emphasis on the importance of getting and staying in shape as we age. The way we’re lied to makes my skin crawl.
Every article instead equates aging with decaying, and, without saying it out loud, suggests doing less as the best way to preserve what you have. They position shoveling snow as a young person’s game. In this article older individuals are characterized as “45 - 50 or older, with known or hidden heart disease.” (hidden heart disease? not sure how anyone could account for that one). One piece of advice in the article is to “pay your young neighbor to do it.” I’m 39 and I do shovel my elder neighbor’s properties, but I guess I only have a few years left before that’s safe.
And it’s all just part of the same main stream narrative were fed. That diseases, aches, pains, injuries, and inactivity are an inevitable part of aging that isn’t worth fighting. The best advice is to just sit back and take it, with a pill, because it’s coming for you, whether you like it or not.
The pain in your back is aging. Your high blood pressure is aging. The loss of strength is aging. The loss of mobility is aging. The loss of cognition is aging. Everything is aging, and when aging is everything there is nothing you can do because we can’t not age. While aging is in fact inevitable, maintaining good health is possible.
By now it’s common knowledge that mental and physical exercise can stop or reverse signs of aging (particularly in people who have never exercised before), and prevent the loss of muscle, mobility, and cognition. We know that there are an endless number of lifestyle changes that we can make to our diets, sleep habits, and ability to cope with stress, to name just a few, that will help us age gracefully. But that’s not what we hear being promoted.
I dream of a wold where all the publications, like this one I read, took the opposite approach and discussed in length the benefits of making certain lifestyle changes (like being able to shovel know). Where every Spring they proactively published a comprehensive guide to “Getting into shape at any age to shovel snow.” If instead of telling people to do things like hire a neighbor to shovel for them, they shared “The 10 exercises to be Ready for Winter.” Where they listed all of the disease causing foods and habits, and offered ways to change them. In the article I read they couldn’t even emphasize the effects of smoking and alcohol on heart disease, instead putting it after “avoid heavy meals before and after shoveling.”
Avoid heavy meals, smoking or alcohol before and after shoveling. [from the article]
I wonder what would happen if there was a clear and cohesive message that said: ‘It’s not your age. Take care of yourself and shovel snow into your 80s.’ What kind of impact would that have on the world?
I know it wouldn’t get every single person off the couch, into the gym, and eating healthier, but it would definitely impact a non-trivial percent of the population, and it would at least make everyone else stop and think. It would make them question their situation, and that would be a start.
Think about it. If you’re older and already feeling like I shouldn’t be doing anything, and then you read an article that with statistics, and data, and quotes by doctors and PhDs, it’s hard to argue against that. It’s not just permission, but it’s expert advice to keep doing what you’re doing. To say to yourself, “I knew I was feeling like I shouldn’t do anything, and here’s my confirmation.” As opposed to the doctor that says: “get moving, lose some weight, eat some real food, and then go shovel snow.” But we’re content to equate aging with doing less.
We all have self-limiting beliefs. I think that is a common feature of being human. But self-limiting beliefs are just beliefs that hold little to no truth. Unfortunately we live in a world that is hell bent on reinforcing those self-limiting beliefs and fears until they’re our reality. The more dependent people are the easier they are to lead, and they make better consumers. There is no encouragement, there is no truth, there is only placating and making us feel like we’re incapable. I just wish people realized how capable they were and were encouraged to be so.