"The only way to hurt the body is to not use it."
~Jack LaLanne
Done with swim class, I'm leaving Good Shepard fitness center, and an elderly lady is coming in on her walker. I hold the door open for her and her family helping her, and another patron waiting turns to me and she says, "that'll be us one day".
Honestly, no, I don't think it will be me some day. I actually take care of myself, stay active, eat healthy, and work on strength (just cleaned 100.45kg, or 221 pounds for a new PR!). I am not going to let myself rely on some tool to help me get around, for once you lose it, it's sooo hard to get back. Just take a week off of working out and see what I mean.
But what bothers me is the acceptance that such dependence and decrepitude is our fate. It's becoming so commonplace in American Society that we're now just accepting it as a fact of life. This "fact" is all a myth.
There are many reasons why I work out, although my main goal has been based in vanity there are other motivations. I want to be on this Earth for a long time, I want to be here for my family and friends. I want to be here as long as possible to spend time with my fiancee. I don't ever want to be a burden, instead I want others to be able to depend on me.
...And it makes me mad that others seem to just let themselves whither away, it just seems so wrong.
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