How Old Would You Be If You Didn't Know How Old You Were?
I was listening to a talk on age recently and was reminded of how much others and their view of age (and our own view of age) is so very limiting. People tell me that I am not old enough to talk about age yet. You’re only ____ years old. Wait until you’re my age. “Age has as much power as you want to give it,” I’ll say.
We complain about this and that and just chalk it up to getting old. We start to settle in and decide the good days are past us. We go on living in the past…. thinking about what we used to do and wishing we could still do it. “How old would I be if I didn’t know how old I was?” was something Satchel Paige asked a reporter who badgering him about his age. Paige was a professional baseball player back in the mid 1900’s. He was actually the first black baseball player in the American League and holds the record as the oldest baseball player in the league till this day. I love his question here. It shows us just how much stock we put on a number… and what the world says about that number. A number really is just an idea though. Imagine what you would do different if you didn’t know how old you were. If you didn’t sit around and think about what everyone else thought you should be doing “at your age.” What if we just lived in the present moment a bit more? That’s what Satchel Paige was saying. “Age is a matter of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it don’t matter.”
How does this show up in your life? I’ve thought of this quite a bit in my own running. As I experience more injuries and more frustration I’ve found myself wondering, “Is this just what it’s going to be like for the rest of my life? Am I just going to continue getting old and injured?” I hear this sometimes too, “Well what is the point anymore? I can’t PR, or I can’t run like I used to. I can swim as fast, I’m just not as good anymore… so I should just give up.” “I’m too old to do that!” I’ve even had doctors tell me that this (injury) is just part of getting old. I told the doc, “Well I’m not accepting that belief. You can feel free to say it, but I don’t believe it, and I am not going to live by that standard.”
Sometimes we do get injured and are faced with training challenges. Our paces aren’t as fast as they used to be. Remind yourself in these situations that It’s all about perspective. What can you bring today? How can you bring your best game. The more I do this, I’ve realized the better I run and feel. Yes, you may need to adjust training, add in cross training, or more recovery time, but that is true with anything you do. Don’t hang up your shoes quite yet though!
Keep your focus on today. The present is the best time to be living folks. Its all we really have anyway. Step back from time to time and ask yourself. Reflect a bit on it. How have you been limiting yourself? Remind yourself what is true about you. You have everything you need right now. Stay in the present and keep it simple. Go Do IT!