Jack LaLanne died on Sunday at the age of 96. He defied the years well into his 70s, but even he recognized his aging body wasn’t as capable as he got older. After performing incredible swimming feats throughout his life, when asked what he had planned for his 90th birthday he responded with a bit of mirth, “Tow my wife across the bathtub.” I hear you Jack. For the 2nd time in my life I feel like I’m getting older. It’s not related to my recent 37th birthday, or my graying facial hair, or a rapidly increasing bald spot on the top of my scalp. No, that’s not it. Let me take it back to the first time I felt like I was getting older, and then bring it forward.
It was about 6 years ago. I was working 12 hour shifts, 5am to 5pm. We were playing basketball on Monday nights, sometimes for 2 to 3 hours straight. I can distinctly remember walking into the NOC before 5am one Tuesday morning and aching all over. Both of my feet hurt with each step, my legs were weak, and my back was sore. I thought to myself, “I don’t ever remember feeling like this after playing basketball. This must be a result of getting older and my body not recovering as quickly.”
It was a disturbing thought. Were my already pitiful sporting skills going to deteriorate even more each week? Would I have to deal with pain and soreness for days and days after working out or participating in a sporting event? I dealt with that for months, with my feet hurting me for days at a time. I started wearing sneakers to work, and I quit jogging. I was getting older by the day. Finally, I broke down and bought a new pair of basketball shoes. The foot pain went away almost immediately! It was my own personal fountain of youth. I quickly returned to dunking the basketball (on my 8′ rim), and uncorking HRs at will (in Wii Sports). I wasn’t getting old. I was suffering from a wardrobe malfunction. What a relief.
Fast forward to this past weekend. The 2nd time I felt like I was getting older. I woke up Friday morning feeling pretty good, but while getting ready for work my shoulder and neck tightened up and a searing pain shot through the whole area on the left side of my neck and back. I didn’t do anything to cause it. It just happened. All weekend it bothered me. I couldn’t turn my head. I had to explain to the kids why they couldn’t jump on my back and roughhouse. In addition, I’ve got a sore spot on one of my thoracic vertebrae that has been bothering me occasionally. All of a sudden I couldn’t do all the things I normally do, and I had a constant ache in my back/shoulder/neck area. I walked into my bedroom Sunday night, stopped next to the bed, turned and looked in the full length mirror, and had this intangible feeling that I was getting older.
Then I was reminded of that time 6 years ago when a simple shoe replacement restored my youth and vigor. I figure there’s got to be a simple explanation for my rapid aging this past weekend. Maybe a new pillow or a slight modification of my weight lifting technique will do the trick. I haven’t figured it out yet, but whatever it was, I feel much better today. Sure, I can still see the wheels of time spinning inexorably forward when I don’t shave and see all that gray hair on my chin, or when I think about celebrating my dad’s pending 60th birthday, or when I look at my 12 year old son, who is almost as tall as I am. What I’ve realized however, is now that my shoulder is healing up, I really don’t feel any different than I did 15 years ago, in fact, I feel better. That’s the lesson I learned from Jack LaLanne, who despite his age, was working out daily right up until his death. A healthy lifestyle isn’t about stealing a few more years of life away from death’s grasp. Instead it is about living an active, happy, and young life regardless of what the calendar says. I’ve found the fountain of youth. It is simply this: stay fit, eat right, wear nice basketball shoes, get a new pillow, and shave more often.
Thank you Jack.