Maintenance Pays Off - In Better Health and Life Satisfaction

When we're young, we can do pretty much what we want without thinking about our physical capacities. If we want to climb a mountain, dance all night, eat that fancy food, see something or hear someone, we can. We don't even have to think about it.

Then one day, without realizing it, we get to the stage when we need regular maintenance. Exercise becomes not a diverting option, but a requirement. Somehow I personally have arrived at that place. For years I've been telling other people how to maintain their bodies. Here's how I do it.

Maintaining the Joints

Over 10 years ago, without adequate preparation, I ran a foot race too enthusiastically. As a result, a disloyal knee began to hurt so much that I feared I'd never hike again. Still, knowing how rarely an x-ray assists with that kind of problem; I skipped technological diagnostics and went right to physical therapist Sven Solvik. I did just what he recommended and followed the physical therapy program he laid out. Now, 14 or so years later, every other day I still do the exercises he recommended. My knees never bother me despite bicycling 500 miles, backpacking a couple of hundred miles, and walking probably a thousand miles pretty much every year. (Walking 1,000 miles a year is no big deal. It's just three miles a day. Do the math. )

Eight or so years ago my right shoulder started complaining when I played tennis. Again we skipped the x-ray. Again Sven set me on the path to recovery, and yes, every other day I still do the exercises he recommended.

As regular readers of this newsletter know, I'm a big fan of physical therapy. The problem is how to keep the exercises up, especially after the pain goes way. The key is to find a 'hook' to help you exercise. My hook for my morning exercises is to find an audiobook I enjoy, and then never let myself listen to it except when exercising. Every time I exercise, I get the reward.

What You Eat

The passage of time requires us to be more careful about what we eat, and fortunately brings us the patience to cook it.

If you haven't noticed it before, our website carries a couple of videos, kindly produced by Gary Smith and Kitty Delong, in which I demonstrate the preparation of healthful meals.

Diet tip for today: Don't worry about the fats. Worry about the carbs.

Watch 'em!

Tending the Mind and Spirit

The mind needs two things – activity and rest. In my late 20s I started one other maintenance routine, and that was to meditate twice every day. A curious mind, like a racecar, needs to go into the pits once in a while, and for me, meditation has served that purpose well. There are other ways to rest the mind: getting lost in dance or music; playing tennis or skiing – anything that takes your mind away from its ordinary concerns.

In addition, I have learned over the course of my life that fruitful work also nourishes my mind and body. As discussed in a previous newsletter, experience has taught me that I don't do well as a passenger on the airplane of life. Being on the crew helps me maintain my happiness, alertness, and ability to function at my best.

Make Beautiful Music

These days, the maintenance described above requires no more than an hour and a quarter a day. Discipline, like muscles, strengthen with use. Discipline brings me a body that complains very little. My mind and hands consume the tasks before me rapidly. I sleep well.

In my line of work, every day brings the reminder that even to breath, even to sleep, even to pass water or stool, even to be comfortable from moment to moment – these are not guaranteed. In fact, just the opposite. It is pretty much guaranteed is that some of these difficulties will happen to most of us.

Isn't there a glory in this – we labor in the common cause knowing that the fruits of our labors will eventually be taken from us?We nurture children knowing that they will drift off away from us into the future, to face the same trials we face. They say that as the Titanic sank, the band played on the deck until the last minute. When I look around at the people I spend time with, they seem to be bracing their feet on the deck to make the most beautiful music they can while time allows.

So, take care of yourself, both your mind and your body. We need your music.