Getting Old

I'm not getting any younger. Gotta face it and admit it.

While I'd like to think of myself as young in spirit, my body has clearly started signaling that it's no longer as strong as it used to be. One immediate implication is that I might need to give up playing basketball. Very sad, but probably the right thing for me to do. I threw out my back badly not too long ago, sending me to several painful days in bed, hardly able to sit, not to mention stand or walk. It used to happen every 5 years or so, but in the last couple years it became more like every 5 months. I should note that I'm very aware of my back problems, and I get Shiatsu treatments every week. I also tried Pilates for several months, with no obvious success. At the end of the day, I guess the violent nature of playing basketball, including sharp turns and sudden shocks is something I should be avoiding. But I need the exercise, and I loath swimming :-( We'll see, maybe I'll try football (the real game, not the American fake version :-)

This seems to be typical for my biological age (37), but it's hardly comforting.

Two weeks ago, I went on a "boys hike" with my two good friends, Tal and Ziv. That's sort of a tradition that was put on hold for several years, during which we didn't all live in Israel. We are experienced hikers. We chose one of the most challenging trails in Israel - the black canyon in the Zavitan creek in the Golan. It requires rappelling down high waterfalls, jumping into pools and swimming with your backpack soaked with water, and being very careful of slippery rocks. We hiked the trail easily, but kept laughing at ourselves: here we are, with 3 kids each, by our own standards out of shape, no longer reckless youngsters capable of everything. The sentiment of getting old and having less energy was definitely something we all shared...


But they say that with years comes wisdom, right?!


Giora