Mortality,Future of US Health Care,and Portland's Let's Go

"Never give out while there is hope; but hope not beyond reason, for that shows more desire than judgment."– William Penn

Darn it!  Linda and I continue to have symptoms from the colds we acquired on our Mexican cruise last week. Neither one of us neither likes to be sick.  These colds are a surprise for us since we have been pretty healthy. So, I called Laura this morning to tell her that we still had symptoms and did not think it would be good idea to host Saturday’s birthday -brunch run.  It's ok though because Secretariat said he and Debbie will host this year.  What is also difficult to do is to rest and drink liquids, as opposed to exercising and running on the trail.   This cold might interfere with participating in the January 1 New Year’s Resolution Run held Auburn.  For the past two years, Secretariat and I have entered the 10 mile.  He has already entered, and I am going to wait to see what happens to my symptoms before registering.

Within the past 2 to 3 weeks, we have lost two men-one older and one younger.  On top of that, the wife of one of the men who passed recently spent three days in the hospital.  Feeling sick, and witnessing the frailties that exist allowed me to pause and think about my mortality.  On top of that, I read an article titled “The Future of US Healthcare”   in Monday, December 12, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal.

The article pointed out that because of increasing health care costs, doctors, employers, and health insurance plans are encouraged to take a more direct approach in assisting individuals to make lifestyle changes. There are financial incentives for doctors, insured, and employers   to make changes.  Making lifestyle changes is a good thing and an economic motive seems to be the catalyst.  I think that can be a good thing.

 The NFL has a “Play 60” program designed to get kids involved in physical activity.  Portland’s “Let Go” program reported on an earlier blog is demonstrating progress in their program.  For those of you who may not remember, this program involves the schools and families to adapt its 5-2-1-0 message.  Translated this means eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables, get two hours or less of screen time, get a least one hour of exercise and consume zero  sugary drinks daily. Compared with year 2007, parents reported that their kids went from 16% to 26% in year 2011 as far as eating the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables.  The children improved from 38% to 45% with their daily recreational screen time-two hours or less as well.  Good job parents, as you are the key.  Hopefully parents are incorporating the same message for themselves.

 Returning to health, wellness, exercise, nutrition, and mortality let us incorporate Erik Erikson’s model. His eighth and final stage of psychosocial development is called “Ego Integrity vs. Despair.”  Of course, looking at his epigenetic chart in his life cycle model, this final stage is associated with maturity.  One hopes to develop maturity and integrity.  It is difficult to develop integrity without maturity, and vice versa. However, physical well-being or wellness has to be part of the equation.  The more physical and emotionally healthier we are, the less likely we are to find  “ despair “as we live out the rest of our lives. The choice and options are certainly clear.  Hopefully, more of us will incorporate the message.

A Different Way To Age and Ageism

Today, I am attending The Eldorado Equestrian Trails Foundation for a book signing.   I am going to start my presentation and talk briefly about my accident in 2009 with my horse Gypsy. The accident was serious , as I was airlifted by a rescue helicopter and flown to Sutter Memorial Hospital and treated in their trauma center.

During my recovery phase, I thought about using my time wisely and came up with the notion that I would write a book.  The idea occurred to me that I could tell the tale about my introduction to horses, and the many experiences that followed.  Once I figured out my subject matter, I formed hypotheses that I wanted to research.  To answer the questions that I created, I put together a case history questionnaire to measure and address those questions.

I formed two focus groups; to get a better handle and direction for the task ahead.  Listening to the participants from the focus group, it was clear that the “older” person of today is much more active than the individual 50 years ago.  Thinking back to my parents, they were active, but not as active as people today.  I decided that I did not want to limit the participants of my study, to simply be active.  I wanted to research and study individuals that were active and still competing.  Then I began to think about all the people that I met during my ride and tie journey and began writing down and compiling a list of older competitors.

I began researching writers that have written about aging.  I looked to models of aging and revisited Erik Erikson, and his 8 ages of man. I also looked at motivational theory, and the writings of Albert Maslow, Erich Fromm, Alfred Adler and others.  Contemporary authors like Andrew Weill, Deepak Chopra, etc. also wrote and provided ideas about aging successfully.

I incorporated aging, competitiveness, and mastery with extreme sports.  I was able to look at an older competitor and address the motivational, developmental, and competitive nature of my interviewees. I used my experience with ride and tie to be the foundation or the base for my study. My research, illustrated a new and different model about the aging process.  We do not look like others, we do not think like others, we do not act like others, and we are not like others.

An example of an individual who is more than active and gives a more accurate look at a new way to age is none other than Lew Hollander.  His recent triumph at the Hawaiian Iron man speaks volumes.  This man is 81 years young and has completed 23 out of 23 Hawaiian Iron man events.  He is much has more than just a sports phenom.  He is a scientist, and still presents papers in scientific gatherings.  It goes without saying that he is in no way a typical 81 year individual.  His thinking, philosophy, and behavior put him in a very different category.  His age does not limit, who he is.

Aging andMortality

It Has Nothing to Do with Age is a book about the aging process. You may be thinking about your mortality and if you are, you are likely, at least, in your late 30s. There comes a certain point or time in our lives when we begin thinking about life’s window. Is that window as open as it once was? Prior to thinking about aging or ones mortality that window is completely open. Often, beginning to think about mortality is when our life is perceived to be roughly half over or is related to some crisis or trauma. It’s at that point that the window begins to close.

For me, the writing of this book occurred after I had a serious horse accident. I decided to write about my competitions in order to more fully understand my reasons for participating in extreme sports. I then thought about and selected men and women, in retirement age,  who perform in extraordinary physical sports. I did not overlook the importance of the mental component or thinking process. What is the ratio of physical to psychological or mental components in completing Western states 100?  Trust me, both are important.

Do we fight the aging process? Do we deny our mortality? Are we afraid to stop our sports? These were a few of the questions that I asked myself and wanted to better understand. I know that I want to be physically strong, have good energy, and be healthy.  It is also important, for me, to practice, train, and improve at what I’m doing. In other words, there’s a lot of repetition compulsion or repetition addiction that takes place an order for mastery to happen.

 Recently, Michael Jordan said something like he was not looking forward to being elected in the basketball Hall of Fame. According to him, he claimed that the sport writers would likely think that he could no longer put on a shirt, shorts and basketball shoes and play a high-level game. Would they think of him differently and possibly no longer be in awe of him. Another explanation and likely more accurate is that Michael would think of himself differently. If you go to one of his basketball camps he continues to dunk the ball. He also said that he pictured himself going into the Hall of Fame at age 70 not at age 45. He might be fearful that he could not be able to jump high enough to dunk the ball at age 70. For Michael, he likely has thought about the closing of his window. Michael, it happens to all of us. We are mortal. Freud said “the goal of life is death.” That my friend is the reality. And remember what Tony said “ And  then you die.”

If you are thinking or thought about immortality you might consider evaluating how you want to spend the rest of your life. I know many that are active. For me, I want to be more than active because I want to be physical as well. How I think and when I think about what I want determines how I set goals. Use it while you can because what you’ve heard about atrophy is true. The expression is “Use it or lose it.”