Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Liberties and Limitations

The best things about being 50 are the seemingly limitless liberties one has. I can vote, rent a car, drink alcohol, patronize bars, get into any and all movies, and join AARP. However, just as I can do nearly anything I desire, there are certain consequences to my actions - at my age. For instance . . .

Over the course of three days last weekend, I walked sixty miles in Minnesota. When Lynnette and I were walking the final two miles of the event on Sunday, I decided I was very thirsty. I proceeded to guzzle the entire contents of my water bottle, basically in one gulp. This proved to be a poor choice, my increasingly painful cramping stomach reminded me with each step of the last mile. My fifty-year old intestinal system was telling me that moderation would have been the better idea, in order for my fifty-year-old stomach to process the water. After crossing through the banners that signified the ending point of the walk, I lay on the ground for thirty minutes and recovered. You would have thought at my age, I would have learned my lesson. But you know what they say about old dogs ...

After arriving back home in Nashville yesterday afternoon, I wanted a Quarter Pounder meal (large size) from the Golden Arches. I have abstained from this meal for awhile, in hopes of losing a few pounds. But yesterday I thought I deserved it - after all, I certainly must have walked off the calories that would be ingested. Once again, I did not heed my previous experience, and inhaled my chosen meal, blissfully ignoring the fact that my body had been physically stressed for three days. The meal was delicious - until about 3:00 am this morning, when once again my digestive track reminded me that it is no longer that of a teenager. After a few hours of reading time in my private "study", I once again could walk upright.

At 50, I have the freedom to do whatever I want. However, some of those things may come at a price. Yes, I slept on the ground in a tent for two nights - and it took me a few minutes to get on all fours to hoist myself up to swaying on two legs in the mornings. Yes, I can eat or drink whatever I want - but my body may refuse to process it in the way I remember. Yes, I can choose to enter any length of jogging event wherever I choose - but my ankles will probably be screaming for days afterward.

As a teenager and even a young adult, I would do things with scarcely a thought about them afterward. Events were undertaken and rarely had any residual detrimental effects. I could eat anything and do anything - as long as I was allowed to do those things by those in charge.

Now things are different. I am the one in charge, but I have to think more about how things may affect me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am going to have to consider the possible consequences and may have to pass on some things. I have to consider my age, my circumstances, and my past experiences. But all this consideration isn't a bad thing, because it means I am thinking about me - isn't that part of what being 50 should be about anyhow?

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