A blackout, an injury fall and the feeling that Mother Nature has pulled out the rug is a low blow. “Not fair” you say, but we all know that something like this is bound to happen sooner or later. Life, as you/we know it, will never be the same.
Ageing is frustrating. It has a number of upsides, but that doesn’t make the downs any easier. Modifying your environment is one thing, but making the changes demanded by a misbehaving body is something else. Once your confidence takes a hit it is hard to get it back.
Old age changes your world in so many ways. Surgery, rehabilitation, and new medications can help, but it is going to take sheer willpower to get your mojo back.
Will you ever be as strong as you were before? It seems impossible when your elbow hurts, your shoulder won’t rotate, your knee has lost its range of motion, and you are flooded with negative thoughts. Confidence and a “can do” attitude have always worked before, but what happens when your control seems to be slipping away?
You can change your environment but accepting and changing the way you have always done things is more challenging. Little things like driving your car or going for a walk need to be scrutinized closely, because now you have to factor in your safety as well as the safety of others.
The world is not going to end tomorrow if you have ask someone else to shop for you, clean your house, or drive you to appointments. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. You are still “you” even if some of your parts don’t work as well as they used to.
Check your attitude at the door and arm yourself with a new sense of determination (advice to self). Accept the inevitable and move forward, one step at a time. Acknowledge that the old way of doing things is not the only way. Your brain, fortunately, retains its ability to reconfigure itself, to learn, throughout an entire lifetime. Personal growth had no expiration date.
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