In this day and age though, how old or young you are depends more than anything on the energy you have. A lot would say 40 is the new 30. But I know a lot of people in their 30s who act and look like they are in their 50s while there are those who are past their mid-40s who look and act like thirtysomethings.
In the end, it is not really chronological age that matters but how much energy you have and how long your motor can keep on running. If you have lived a good life of regular exercise, sensible diet, and enough rest, it will show. You will have enough energy reserve to keep up with your schedule and those of your never-tiring children!
The good news is it is never too late to exercise regularly, to get enough rest, and to start eating sensibly. I asked Manny Osmeña of Cebu Hilton how he lost a lot of weight. He told me we had met before and only then did I realize that he had lost a lot of weight and has since looked a lot younger! To the million-dollar question of how he did it, his simple answer was this: lifestyle change.
You might say that is easier said than done, but how do you get the energy to change your lifestyle or even just to start exercising regularly? It is really a great paradox; you have to spend energy to renew your energy. You have to use it (energy) or you’ll lose it. The key is to start small until it becomes regular and builds up.
Now, as to the inspiration to build an energy reserve, here are some tips from various authors and one of my favorite wellness gurus, Dr. Andrew Weil:
• Focus on helping others. As Mother Teresa used to say the world is hungry for our help and our love. When our focus is outside of ourselves and we venture to help others or a cause, then we forget about our own problems, which experts say make us feel old. We gain vitality, fulfillment, and joy when we help others. Age is just a number; it should not imprison us to stop making a difference.
• Be realistic. Do not get carried away though because you do not have the easy and bottomless energy of youth. Do not be too daring and too obsessed that you are already putting in too much energy way beyond what you can really easily commit. I always push myself to the limit with a punishing schedule so God always stops me with disease.
• Start small. Whether it is exercising or finding a good advocacy, start with a small step. If you haven’t been exercising, start by walking around the neighborhood for 15 minutes. Then increase it by five minutes every other day until you can walk for 30 minutes. Then increase the effort by walking faster, swinging your arms or even carrying small weights.
• Begin with your passion. When you love doing it, it is not work. If you love to paint, then offer to paint for free for the homeless like in the GK project of Gawad Kalinga or donate your paintings to hospital wards. Using our passion to help others is very uplifting and defines our purpose in life.
• Use your wisdom. The unique set of skills, gifts, and experiences you have developed over a lifetime makes you a great teacher to anyone in need. Before you know it, your influence will expand as you help a lot of people. One person like that is professor Andy Ferreria, who is called Teacher Andy by a lot of people not only because that is his profession and career since I first met him at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) but because he loves to provide insights and guidance to anyone who cares to seek his wisdom.
• Connect with nature. There is something about nature that is so inspiring and uplifting. Just being surrounded by trees in a park, for example, energizes you. The magnificence of nature also makes us realize that we are so finite compared to the greatness of our Creator. That normally puts things in perspective – especially worldly concerns that throw us off-balance and stress us out. Plant flowers in your garden, smell them, and enjoy their beauty.
• Be with inspiring people. Who makes you happy, energetic, alive? Be with those people more than those who provide you anguish, low morale, and pain. I remember years ago when I wrote about happiness in one’s work – if your job does not fulfill you and make you happy, then you deserve to find another one because no amount of money and benefits can equal the stress and illness you will develop in a job that makes you miserable. Heal yourself by being with people who inspire you and make you whole.
• Forgive and forget. Life is too short to keep an inventory of what is wrong and not fair. Each disappointment should be regarded as a lesson with a valuable teaching. This is so difficult, but I have a technique. I implore God to do the forgiving for me; once I let go, I realize it is easy.
• Listen to music, admire art. Find something that will inspire you. If it is music, buy the CD or go to a concert. If it’s art, frequent the museum. There is something inspiring about admiring the creation of a human skill, maybe because it alludes to the greatness of the God who created man and his talents.
• Get involved in service. Do not just write a check to charity. Get involved. Whether it is just volunteering to teach catechism to kids on weekends or to sing in church.
According to Dr. Weil, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and author of several best-sellers, among them Healthy Aging, any activity that makes you feel more alive, more connected to others, more connected to nature, less isolated, and more comfortable with change is beneficial. It will improve your physical and mental health. It will help you accept the fact of your aging and help you age gracefully.
He encourages readers to embrace, rather than deny or fight, the aging process. He shares that aging can be a catalyst for spiritual growth, citing the legend of Buddha’s enlightenment. He elaborates that "when he (Buddha) was the young prince Siddharta, he was kept by his father in a fantasy palace where he wasn’t supposed to see anything that suggested aging, death or anything unpleasant. Then he goes out of the palace and the first thing he sees is an old man. Then a corpse, a sick man, and a monk – these four sights or visitations are what really stimulated him on the path of enlightenment. So I think there is a way in which awareness and mortality and aging are certainly the most powerful reminders that we’re moving in that direction; it can be a profound spiritual awakening."
Dr. Weil believes many things really become better with age, such as whiskey, cheese, trees, violins, and antiques. "If you look at whiskey, aging of whiskey smoothes out rawness and greenness, it adds depth and complexity, it adds flavors, and concentrates what’s desirable. At the same time, there is evaporation of what’s less consequential and I think it’s fairly easy to see the analogies in human life with that process. Aging can increase value by concentrating what is most worthy and by allowing what’s inconsequential to dissipate. It can smooth out roughness, add depth of character, so I just find it a useful exercise to think what aging brings out in these other areas of our experience that makes us willing to pay more money for old versions."