When You Get to Be Your Age
Having a vision for an Ikigai life.
Ouch!
It felt like a knife was being plunged into my shoulder as the doctor moved my arm.
“Did you have an injury?” he asked, continuing to move my arm.
There was no injury. One day my shoulder started hurting and worsened over several months until it was almost unbearable.
Since there was no injury, I asked, how does something like this happen?
He answered, “When you get to be your age...”
Ouch! It suddenly hurt even worse.
This is going to require surgery.
We tried months of physical therapy to no avail. Ultimately the decision was made to have rotator cuff surgery.
It seemed straightforward what would be done, so I was taken aback when the doctor asked me about my goals.
Goals?
He needed to know what I wanted to be able to do. The strategy for the surgery and my treatment plan would be dependent on what I wanted to be able to do with my shoulder. Some people in their late forties (like I was) and beyond were satisfied with reaching up to a cabinet and getting a cup. Others liked to mountain climb.
“I want to play catch with my grandkids.”
Better Next Year
This was thirteen years ago. Before my kids were married, let alone parents to any grandchildren.
One of the ten principles of Ikigai is ‘Better Next Year.’
This principle aims to inspire staying in shape physically, mentally, and spiritually, supporting being active and part of life.
Even though I didn’t have grandchildren, I already had a vision for the kind of grandfather I wanted to be.
My dream was to run and play with them.
To do that, I needed to take care of myself and stay healthy.
Flexibility of a 20 Year Old
I committed to rigorous physical therapy and added running to help the healing process.
Within a year, I had what my doctor described as the shoulder motion range of a 20-year-old.
“Now that I can move my arm like I did when I was 20, let me give you a list of other things to fix,” I joked.
He raised his hand and said, “I only do shoulders.”
🌱 Ikigai is about experiencing your essence and purpose in harmony in everything you do.
To be able to do the things we enjoy, we must keep ourselves healthy. Movement, exercise, proper sleep, and eating well all contribute to our ability to live fully into our Ikigai.
Nice highlights David and vision within the Ikigai principles that allows us to always view forward and set attainable expectations in the meanwhile. Not to be confused with the Manana Habit of putting things off but to view the future and actively engage daily with joyful commitments moving forward. Not sure if this comes close but that is my stab at it ;)
So true. When you age, lots of pain in our body will really come out. High time for us to reflect. what could we fo better as seniors?
We can still do a lot in spite of age. Age doesn't matter at all