Fear & age?

[Sky King]

Ohhhhh sorry, didn't mean to offend anybody. It is a weird phrase isn't it. For me it means much as lph says. The "alternative" is something that will happen eventually and in the meantime I think great conversations, like this thread are invaluable. I will always remember by FIL saying to my DH that he thought my DH was getting to old for that crazy stuff - riding his bike! and he had just turned 50. You can all imagine my DH's response to that

[Crankin]

Oakleaf, you hit it on target. People i know who use that phrase are not worrying about recovery periods or trying out a new sport.
Sky King, I am not offended by you, I just think that it's something people say when they have aged poorly, because maybe, unlike most of us, they have not given a thought to the long term effects of their lifestyle on their health. And, I just hate the negativity it projects.
I think I have strong feelings about all of this because when I was a kid and into my teens, I was totally unathletic. I'm still uncoordinated in a lot of ways, but once I had a inkling that I had some endurance ability, my feelings about a lot of stuff has changed. Being fit secretly boosts my ego in a way that could have helped a lot when I was younger.

[lph]

Right. People I know who say something of the sort are usually active types who have been active their whole lives, and are griping about how things take more effort. Good-naturedly, I might add . I can see that it sounds very different if people say it by way of complaining that their age is the sole reason that they're unfit or whatever.

Come to think of it, I don't hang out much (or at least listen much to) people in that second category... :-D

[Helene2013]

I think I'm more on the "fear" side knowing risks can happen (especially being clumsy hihi). I also know by experience now that falling can lead to longer recovery/healing. The older you get, the longer it may take and I would not like to impact my future for a "stupid" move I may have tried and flunk. hihi

BUT!!!! I probably was one of the rare persons who was jumping up and down when I turned 50 last year. That meant it was the decade in which I retire. Finally got there! Only 6 years max to go. We've always been active, although less in some part of our lives. We will still be active, differently and it does take longer to recup from tougher gym sessions.

Aging bothers me because yes it limits some things we used to do (because of previous injuries/surgeries that impacted life), we are more thoughful in activity choices, etc. But other than this, we are the same. And I do tend to stick to people who are active like us. I don't need whiners in our lives. You generally live the life you want to live, except for illnesses like cancer, etc, which you can't really control.