Accept the fact that after hitting 60, there is no day without pain. How we approach this, whether allowing it to control our lives and shop for a comfortable recliner or ignoring it, getting out and exercising and eating right will determine our overall health or even whether we survive the next 20 years of our life, and the quality of life during these years.
There are different ways to approach your “senior” years. The usual way is like the person below, equipped with the U.S. adult male’s most important tools of the 21st Century — the recliner and the channel-changer. The extent of his movement on this afternoon might be reaching for the channel changer.
Or if the wife were considerate to his needs a few days in advance, she would have stocked the nearby fridge with some beer within easy reach of the recliner. For most of middle America, this would be the perfect way to spend a weekend and seal their fate concerning their long-term health.
Over 70% of diseases that afflict us in middle age are caused by lifestyle, diet, lack of exercise, and the overall sedentary way of life of most Americans. We have the usual list – diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, clogged arteries, strokes, obesity, and even certain forms of arthritis and joint pain – things that we all fear as we age, but most do very little to prevent. Creaking knees, hips, ankles, and wrists are not necessarily the result of aging. Most people do not know the cause of their chronic pain. Over 85% however take over-the-counter drugs to relieve their unknown pain.
The point here is, does it really matter why you have pain? Just accept it, try and ignore it, and move on to do what you really want to do during the day other than watching t.v.
Consider this perspective. As we grow older and the wear and tear on our bodies and bad luck from our gene pool, we likely will have some pain and maybe have some medical problems. For most people over 60, there is almost not a single day without pain. We can let the pain become our excuse to become a beer-drinking couch potato or we can try and ignore it and work through to do the activities that we know will help to keep us healthy and even living longer.
Sometimes the temperature is in the 50’s or below, the wind is blowing off the bay at 20 mph, and the lifeguards are sitting in their chairs wrapped up in their blankets. However, the BP is <120/70, resting heart beats per minute is 55, and there are no OTC pain meds in the diet nor cardiologists on the horizon. There is also not a day without some ache or pain, usually in the knees or back. Sometimes after a good workout to help lube the joints, we suggest taking Omega-3 Fish Liver Oil . 
However, all of this work 4-5 times/week can allow you to advance to more serious activities than just the protected pool.
With a little bit of pain and a few parts determination, brought about by all of the above, you can avoid the afternoon in the recliner with the 6-pack and channel-changer, and go visit some of your friendly neighbors and take their pictures.
