As we grow older, at some point we seem to notice that pain has crept into every task. In my case, shoulders, hips, knees, all start to creak and ache at the slightest hint of use.
Our body becomes much more of an issue. Somebody said, "If I'd known I was going to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself!"
Taking care of ourselves is a form of self-love. Love is caring, among other things. Jesus said there were really only two commandments - "Love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul - and love your neighbour as yourself." We tend to forget that last part - we tend to neglect ourselves until either body, mind, or soul cry ouch. When it comes to your neighbour, you can't give away what you haven't got - so it starts with you.
I find myself keeping in better touch with relatives than I used to in the days when we had young children and I was in mid-career, pursuing what I thought was my mission in life. Now that I phone or e-mail my cousins once in a while, we often end up sharing our health woes. So far, the score is: two with eye problems, one with cancer, one with heart problems, one with sciatica - then there's Arthritis, fibromyalgia, and swellings of ankles, tendonitis, and so forth. If not that, there is depression, anxiety, premature baldness and toenail fungus!
We think a lot about our bodies when we don't have greater things to think about. I suspect that those who are bent on a greater life mission tend to forget the ailments of age and simply get on with life. That doesn't mean the usual hurts aren't there; just that their focus is on a higher issue.
Whether it's food for the hungry, homes for orphans, health for the children of the third world, there are things bigger than your aches and ailments.
I plan to pursue some of these, just as soon as my knees and hips let me get up out of this chair!
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