The Four FEBS of Aging Well

OK, truth is there are more than four, but these—the FEBS—are especially important. Because as we’ve often heard, when you have your health, you have everything.

Or as I would amend it: staying physically healthy as we age, and for as long as we can, gives us more opportunities to age well in other ways.

The four FEBS of good physical health, reinforced in my endless reading for Book the Second, are:

--Flexibility

--Endurance

--Balance

--Strength

No surprises there, eh? And while a lifetime of walking, biking, climbing stairs, stretching, and some intermittent attempts at yoga have served me pretty well, I am—and always have been—an accident waiting to happen. All my life, I have been clumsy; in fact, my parents used to say that I could walk into an empty room and trip.

Unfortunately, I have lived up to their expectations, not only tripping and often falling, but getting into bike accidents; knocking stuff over, usually breakable; and dropping things.

I seem to have survived the worst of it, often with the help of emergency rooms and doctor visits (the mild concussion and fractured ribs), but most often with ice packs, heating pads, pain patches, massage, and OTC anti-inflammatories.

And though I may be clumsy, I ain’t stupid. As my 75^th is due to arrive in a mere six weeks, I’m thinking it might be time to develop a regular practice of something—anything—that will improve my own personal FEBS. Especially so that next year, I can happily greet and celebrate my 76^th. 

To get started, I’m joining a Tai Chi class this week, a decision inspired by Jane Brody’s recent article in the New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/well/move/using-tai-chi-to-build-strength.html?action=click&contentCollection=well&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront