I meet with a few friends each week for lunch or coffee to catch up on how everybody is doing. We are all retired and enjoying the idea that we are still active and have a “to-do list” that keeps us busy. The only difference is that there is no time line on getting the “to-do list” done. We always have tomorrow. There are some conversations that are recalling some of the activities we did in our youth. Some of the activities have come back to remind you that the joint or muscle that you hurt when you were young still hurts today. Not as severe as when we first got hurt but a little ache here or there — especially early morning when we wake up.
We occasionally ask each other if now that you know the end result of those activities we participated in and may have put a stress on the body would we change anything. I have yet to hear any of these senior citizens ever wanting to change anything they did growing up. Some of the activities were downright foolish and had possible danger. Jumping off the roofs of buildings, swinging off tree limbs, contests to see who could jump the farthest from a high swing, being a dare devil on a bike and jumping off ramps, and playing tackle football with no pads or helmets to mention a few.
Many older folks played a variety of sports or activities. The practice of specializing in one sport was not yet a popular practice. Looking back at the activities I played is a long list. I was never outstanding in any one sport other than weight lifting but gave any activity a try. Baseball, softball, football, track, basketball, tennis, wrestling, gymnastics, scuba diving, springboard diving, swimming, racquetball, golf, handball, body building, Olympic lifting, power lifting, boxing, judo, and marathon running are all on the list. Did I have any injuries doing all those activities? Of course I did. Falling off a high bar in gymnastics, football with no face mask or padding in the helmet, belly flops in learning a new dive, being driven into the mat head first in wrestling, and learning to hit the mat without getting hurt after being thrown in judo all make the list.
