Content about aging

I felt old a few years ago when the eye doctor first explained progressive lenses to me. I remember saying "so...they're trifocals," to which he responded..."yes, they've been rebranded."

Well, he made me feel old again at today's visit, although this time without the humor. He explained the concept of "office glasses" to me. Essentially, office glasses have lenses with a larger zone for intermediate distances, and smaller zones for far and near distances (progressive lenses typically have a relatively large area for far distances, a smaller area for intermediate distances, and an even smaller area for near distances). You use your office glasses during the workday while most things you're focusing on fall in the intermediate distance category. This reduces the time and strain involved in moving your head around to land things in the relatively small intermediate zone of "regular" trifocals (sorry, "progressives"). You leave your office glasses, well, at the office and switch to your regulars, and their larger zone for far away distances, for the drive home.

I hate that this makes perfect sense to me.

tags: aging

postposted by matt in Monday, April 22, 2024

Many poolside conversations among residents at the condo start with a description of some ailment or health condition. "My knee" this or "my shoulder" that. Some of the older folks greet each other with updates on things their family did recently, only to say they themselves had to miss out on the adventure because of an ailment or condition—"they went but I couldn't because of my hip."

This reminds me of current conversations we have with our parents, who seem to remind us every time that "it's no fun getting old."

I feel like some people approach aging like a resignation of sorts — no one wants a bum shoulder, a broken hip, a bad knee, or any of these other ailments and conditions, but many seem to view it as an inevitable part of getting older. And then they let their particular ailment or condition define them, sort of like middle-aged folks let their jobs and careers define themselves. Something else I hate. (Just the other day someone whom Renee had just met looked at me and, as their first words spoken directly to me, said "what do you do?" Really? Ugh).

I don't want to age like this. I don't want to resign to defining myself by whatever comes my way health-wise.

So, I'm going to do three things (continue to do two things, really, and start doing the third).

First, thanks to Renee, I'm controlling my diet and eating right (cutting out inflammatory foods and ingredients and focusing on real, actual food instead of manufactured food).

Second, I'm going to keep moving. Walking, light weightlifting, and maybe some sport activity. I'm actively developing this habits now and need to accelerate it a bit.

Third, I'm going to define my future self by the things I create, not my job or any health ailments or conditions that come my way. I'm building Daystream to allow people to tell their stories. That's a bigger part of my story than any knee replacement or broken hip that comes my way.

tags: aging

postposted by matt in Tuesday, April 4, 2023