I had the good fortune this past weekend to attend a Billy Joel concert, and he had a great bit of advice to offer others of his vintage (he’s 75 years old) as well of those still earlier on the path. The real catch is that he wrote the advice 47 years ago as part of the lyrics to his hit song, Vienna. The third stanza leads with this:
But you know that when the truth is toldThat you can get what you wantOr you can just get old
He picks it up again in the eighth stanza with:
And you know that when the truth is toldThat you can get what you want or you can just get old
Billy Joel may have lived his career sitting at a piano and charming folks like us, but he did not take life “sitting down.” There was a phrase going around about 10+ years ago that sitting is the new smoking. It was a succinct way to convey the health impact of sedentary behavior. It covers not just those who quit their day job at the time they retire and do what they’ve always wanted to do…nothing. It is meant to speak to us all.
Bad retirement plan! Regular exercise which includes walking as a high priority is one of the two top ways to preserve one’s health. Inactivity is also the second greatest risk factor for cardiovascular disease right behind poor diet. The actual numbers needed to attain goal you may have heard. To maintain one’s health, it is recommended that their week’s routine includes 150 minutes of exercise, of which walking can be the greatest part. But less than a third of people receiving these health recommendations actually engage in the physical activities, and only 20 percent actually meet the 150-minute goal.
So, what do professionals recommend?
Get a dog!
Think of it as an enforced workout buddy system, and it is sufficiently successful that people who have dogs are four times more likely to hit
their activity goals. My partner gets the vast majority of his workout time walking the dog…and everyone in a mile radius of our residence knows the dog’s name, and she is 12 years old – 84 people years. I don’t know if they know my partner’s name? May I suggest that part of your successful living strategy include rescuing a dog? In fact, it just may be that the dog rescues you, not the other way around. And enjoy your walk…or just grow old!
Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Retirement Lifestyle Coach and founder of Creative Care Management, LLC, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
