Wednesday February 13, 2008...Fraility

FRAILTY

It's harder, as you get older, to give up the strength and abilities of youth, but it is something that everyone has to do eventually. Your body grows older and more frail with age. Sometimes disease will accelerate the process and you will find yourself weaker in just a short frame of time. It's difficult for the mind to admit that the body can't do everything that it used to do without question. The mind generally keeps gaining more knowledge and wisdom, but the body peaks out in the twenties and slowly loses it's abilities over the years. What you could do, just a few years ago, you can't begin to try now without pain. So, you learn from your body signals and adjust your activities. Your mind takes a more active part in your actions and weighs what is needed against what is available and hopefully you make a wise choice of action.

It's easier to accept this situation after you reach retirement, because you and those around you don't expect quite as much physical strength from the aging body. But when you are younger and your body is weakened by disease or accident, your mind has a hard time accepting the physical limitations imposed upon your body. You have to approach familiar activities with thought and planning and find tools to help accomplish those things you were once able to do manually. You find that you are unable to “suck it up” and absorb the pain and continue on. You must admit your weaknesses and plan your life from a new perspective. Actually, there is a feeling of accomplishment by doing a job well and using your mind to help your body. It becomes a puzzle to solve “how to do this without hurting myself”. Wisdom eventually wins out over brute strength and age helps bring the wisdom.