Pills and Pain

 Okay, when you are old, you have pain. If someone is over eighty and says they don't, it makes me wonder if they need further checking. Pain is not the enemy. It is something to deal with. Far too many people watch ads that show elders showing off how they do the tango or jog or hike up mountains. Those sorts are either ad actors or among the lucky one percent or they take the pills they advertise. Why we need to be hopping or running or walking swiftly is a myth that many elders aspire to without thinking how unproductive it is. They hate their old age when it is actually a badge of good fortune for living so long. When you are an elder, you have picked up some helpful and interesting experience they call wisdom. There's nothing magical about wisdom, it just happens and the longer you live, the more you have of it. Apparently. What I like most about my old age is the memories. Wow, they are way better than Netflix or any other flix you can sign up for. You can tune in to them and re-live all the best parts of your life. Sadly, some dial up the worst ones and they become cranks. Back to pills. Pills are okay if you really need them. Your doctor is good at writing prescriptions but I would be careful about jumping into a program without some on-line  research. You trust your doctor but you are the boss. He or she does the best they can based on tests and your reporting. The rest is up to you. If the pills are not feeling right, go back to the doc. If the pills are for pain, after looking into how it got there in the first place by using the journalistic "W" method, it could be that you were trying to be superman or woman in your younger, sillier days instead of listening to your body. Pain is never gain and it just might return years later with a vengeance. I know folks who say, "I go for my three kilometer trot every day but I take a pain killer pill first". This scares me. Those pills can become harmful and overdoing exercise doesn't work even for athletes. But good athletes and their advisors are very knowledgeable about their performing bodies. They know to how to push it to the limit but they also know that it may affect them later on in life. For you and I, average elders, we wise up to taking it easy on the "look at me, I'm so young" ego kick. We wiser elders move around in what ever way works best for us without pills. We walk and if so, take time to enjoy what's around us. We do whatever our bodies say is okay. If we can't do what the other guy our age is up to, we don't attempt to ape it. We strive to be happy, and happiness is being comfortable and keeping  that sincere smile on our faces. At the same time we try to move about and stretch our muscles in whatever way works best for our individual needs and wants. It might mean merely walking down a hallway or doing a small routine every morning or simply reaching and bending or merely swaying to music. But your muscles need movement because that's what they know and all they know. If they don't get it they complain. It's called pain. They don't need special denial diets that make you sad or ones that are full of sugars and salts and other chemical names. Read labels. The fresher, the better without being a fanatic. Good food does not come pre-cooked or pre-packaged. If all you have is a toaster oven or a hot plate or a microwave oven, you can still cook your own meals consisting of fresh produce and meats. The wee bit of time it takes can be fun if you let it. If you're cutting back, make it the pills you don't really need.