I was speaking with a neighbor of mine the other day and he was telling me about preparing his jetski for the summer season. This got me thinking about my own previous fun experiences on jetskis when I would vacation at beach/lake type environments. However, the sad thought that hit me was the fact that I will probably never be on a jetski ever again. The reason? I just had my fourth lower back surgery to correct herniated discs in the lumbar area and the very last activity I need to be doing is jetskiing, as this would be very hard on my back. Then my mind started to go to other activities I have done in my life that I can no longer do again: riding a roller coaster with my grandson, lifting weights at a gym, changing my own car tires if they went flat…these activities and many more are now on my “Forbidden List”.
As we all transition through different stages of our lives, whether this be attributed to generalized aging or more specific health conditions, we all must adjust our activities accordingly. Our minds may tell us “YOU CAN STILL DO THIS”, but the stark reality is that there are many activities that we may have done in the past that are no longer prudent/safe for us. If we push ourselves into the activities that are potentially harmful to our health, we may pay dearly in terms of pain/suffering for the few minutes/hours we partake in those endeavors.
Try to not allow that part of our brains that pushes us into risky activities to overtake the “smart” part of our brains that adjust our activities based on our health. This is not easy to do but to maintain good health, this is important.
Here is another activity I will never do again: Surfing. But the Beach Boys can make me dream about it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s4slliAtQU
