In my seventies, I exercised to stay ambulatory. In my eighties, I exercise to avoid assisted living.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
So many older people, they just sit around all day long and they don't get any exercise. Their muscles atrophy, and they lose their strength, their energy and vitality by inactivity.
When I was younger, I avoided exercise or anything strenuous. I didn't even enjoy walking. As I got older, I spent so much time marking books or sitting at a desk writing that there was no room for exercise - not that I would have bothered anyway.
I can't live without activity; I can't be sedentary.
I really feel better about aging at the age of 86 than I did at 70.
When I was growing up, I did not exercise at all. I was raised in the French Quarter in New Orleans. If I saw someone running, I would call the police because I thought they stole something on Royal Street.
I'm not a sedentary person. I've always been active.
When I was 20, my husband at the time looked at me said, 'You're fat; go run.' There weren't a lot of tools at the end of the '70s to lose weight. It took me a while to realize what kind of exercise would make me happy and I would look forward to doing. And running became it.
It's difficult to know when to set boundaries around your health at work because the decline is so gradual. Allowing stress to build up, losing sleep, and sitting all day without exercising all add up.
My issue isn't about physical aging; my issue is about wanting to remain vigorous and youthful in my spirit.
The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise.