Image by Tucker Good on Unsplash.
“Thousand little pains…”
“Just threw out my back bending over slightly…”
“All I know is that every morning now starts with checking to see what doesn’t hurt as opposed to what does.”
Does your article begin this way?
When I read these openings, I think people are writing to themselves, assuring themselves that they’re not the only ones.
They get a strong. response.
“Oh, good, you’re the same way. I don’t have to work hard. I just accept being old.”‘
And I admit I’m a little envious. It would be nice to get thousands of claps from hundreds of people.
But I don’t, because I have a tougher message.
“If you ache in the morning you’re probably doing something wrong. Get to a good gym. Hire. a good trainer. Use your benefits for a good physical therapist.
I’m not fanatic about this. You can do everything right and still find yourself hurting. You can have a hereditary condition or an accident.
Or you can do everything wrong and still emerge strong and healthy. I know someone who smoked two packs a day and lived well past 80, healthy as could be.
But every so often I get the impression that people are writing to themselves.
“At my age I have trouble getting in and out of taxis.”
“At my age i can’t learn as much as i used to, and that’s okay.”
“At my age I’m more patient with other people.”
They want someone to say, “That’s okay. You can just take it easy for now.”
You want the doctor or nurse who says, “Why do you want to do push-ups at age 40?”
Even when taking it easy means you end up in an easy chair…forever.
Your audience of readers is not your therapist. They’re not there to assure you, “Everyone feels this way. Just relax and go with the flow.”
Instead, ask what we can learn from you. Do you have a way to handle a problem? Do you have something to teach us, besides “It’s okay to feel this way. Everyone else does.”
Are you looking for validation? Sympathy? Agreement?
Or do you want someone to say, “Nonsense! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!”
If you are not ready to hear the last, I suggest you put the article someone on a shelf. We have plenty of articles about people who are suffering limits due to aging. We don’t need more.
