Verbose

Yawn. Another day…but without wind and rain and so that’s good news. The only bad news so far was the phone call from our neighbor at 1:30 this morning to report that a sprinkler line was broken and would I mind turning it off? Of course. And I will deal with it in the daylight.

Now, awake once again, I have read the current post on Time Goes By and found a good article on dementia and Alzheimer’s. The article states what I’ve said many times, exercise and staying engaged with the world (education) helps to prevent these feared conditions. And the number of cases is dropping, “…what we may be seeing here is the accumulated effects of better education and better cardiovascular prevention…”

I know so many elders that seem to be dedicated to the goal of becoming ‘elderly’. Life is a burden. Change is feared and avoided. Can’t is the most frequent word heard from them.

I simply can’t imagine not wanting to know more about the world we live in. And I am not sure that this is an inherited trait, I think it’s a habit that you need to develop. You need to pursue knowledge daily, even when the first few things you read make you want to say, ‘Oh, no! It’s the same old news!’

Exercise is even harder to develop as a habit. Facts are still facts and I’m getting older and I can’t do all of the things I once did. But I can do something! I remember mom telling us about the old man that lived at ‘the home’ where she lived, and the fact that he walked 9 or 10 miles each day…and he was in his 90’s. I never met him, but he became a hero for me.

And I was just thinking; how few elders bother to exercise (walk) regularly. I know of 3 or 4 that I see walking on a regular basis here on the Planet Orland. There are more to be found in Chico, but the numbers have to equate to less than 1% of the elder population. What keeps so many at home?

I’m just guessing, but I think it’s fear that keeps them at home. Most seem preoccupied with burglar alarms and personal alarms. Of course some of that phobia comes from our society’s bad habit of believing everything they see or hear on the 6 o’clock news. (Read. People, read!) If you want to stay healthy; mentally and physically, you have choices to make and you can’t let fear, fear of change, keep you from living a full life.

And don’t hang around depressing old people…they already made their choice and they would love to drag you down into their tiny world. Don’t let them!