Dealing With The Inevitable


by Steve Thayer - Date: 2007-02-16 - Word Count: 442 Share This!

It starts ever so slowly and quietly. Sneaking up on us like a thief in the night. At first we keep it a secret, but then we find ourselves talking about it, sometimes even obsessing Others know what we mean, but may shy away when it is brought up. We work hard to keep at bay, spending copious amounts of money and time in the process. Eventually we face it.

OUR BODIES ARE TELLING US WE ARE OLDER!

It can be our knees or feet or shoulders or elbows. Not bad enough to see a doctor, but we definitely keep the pain reliever companies in business. We sometimes glorify the reality by claiming the aches and pains are evidence of past sport or other achievements. That is until we need to go under the knife to repair the results of that glory. As a result of these problems we go from high-impact to low-impact to no-impact exercise.

Then there are the wrinkles, sagging body parts, and grey hair…… With all the baby boomers coming of age, talk about a financial windfall for the cosmetic, hair care, and body shaping companies.

These realities are nothing new to any of us. Let's look at how we deal with them psychologically.

• Denial - "I'll be as good as new, soon." Denial can range from avoiding mirrors to ignoring the recommendations of your doctors. Turning a blind (denial) eye can be hazardous to your health.
• Anger - "Those kids are turning my hair grey!" What's with all the road rage these days? Seriously, our anger at the natural process can spread over to family, friends, and co-workers if we aren't careful.
• Bargaining - "If I do two workouts a day, can I get my abs back?" The funny thing about this strategy is how hilarious we can be. Who are we kidding?
• Depression - "I might as well give up." This is a tough one. It is not fun to get older. We must talk to others about our shared feelings and experiences to cope with these feelings and move forward.
• Acceptance - "OK, I am just getting older and need to adapt to the changes." Some people think that acceptance sounds depressing, but acceptance isn't about accepting our fate, but is the result of a reevaluation process that includes knowing our strengths.

All of these coping mechanisms are involved in the process of grappling with getting older. They don't come in any particular order, and will go around and around as we face each passing year. A sure sign of constructively going through the process is being able to laugh with friends about the inevitable, even as we try to stay ahead of the following wave.


Related Tags: business, pain, glory, secret, wrinkles, boomers, older, dealing, inevitable, bodies, sagging, realities, grey

Steve Thayer is a California State Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Certified Financial Planner™, and co-owner of http://www.MyVitalFiles.com, a Home Filing Solutions Company. He has written articles for various publications for 30 years, and besides working in counseling and financial consulting, his goal is to help make life less tedious and more fulfilling for people by developing paperwork filing solutions.

You may contact him at http://www.MyVitalFiles.com and steve@MyVitalFiles.com.

© Steve Thayer 2007 All rights Reserved - May not be copied or distributed without the author's permission.

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