Spring Cleaning

I’ve started my annual spring cleaning projects around the house. Our bedroom and closet have been thoroughly dusted and vacuumed behind, in and under. My aching back told me so too.

I’m not as young as I used to be.

It seems projects requiring my physical effort take a little bit longer than they used to for me to complete. I am slower. I hurt more when I am done too. Ibuprofen has become like my new best friend! It’s not easy to acknowledge this as reality either.

My mind thinks of me as being 21 while my body tells me a different story.

Twenty years ago I worked one evening a week and had the morning home. In the hours before work I vacuumed the house and washed the floors and then got ready and worked a full day’s load. There is no way that I could so easily accomplish that effort today. I wouldn’t want to attempt it either. I’d be too worn down to do a good job towards the end of that very long day.

This is just the beginning of noticeable changes that occur as we age for me. I see evidence of things to come when I glance towards people older than I am. I recognize just where I am headed. It’s scary to peek at that reality too.

A youthful body gets further behind me with each passing day.

I can color away the gray and put cream on the wrinkles to smooth them out but my body’s response to physical efforts can’t be simply covered up or ignored. I am getting older and my body tells me so.

It’s growing increasingly important to exercise and stretch those well-worn muscles of mine. This I can and need to do to help remain healthy and active into the years ahead.

Spring cleaning projects feel great to see accomplished at any age. I suspect as time progresses I will increasingly be grateful to have the ability to accomplish those projects too!

What changes are you noticing in your body as you age?