Love Your Grandma? Make Her Carry Her Own Groceries

   I feel that as a society, the older people get, the easier we try to make life for them in an attempt to soothe the aging process. We soothe the process is by creating structural conveniences, such as closer parking spots, ramps, elevators, escalators, and preferred seating. Another way we soothe the process is by cultural expectations, like carrying groceries, giving our seat away, running errands for, and the overall approach of having our beloved elders physically do as little as possible. I feel that by attempting to soothe the aging process, we are actually speeding it up, ultimately doing more harm than good.

   Now you might be confused. Let us take the less socially considered approach to our elders.

   I want you to suspend the idea of life measured by a number, and consider it instead by one’s ability to move. For the majority, one of the main components to someone’s quality of life is their ability to move.

   I do not believe that we automatically lose the ability to bend over and pick something up, climb stairs, and hold bags because of our age. We do not lose any ability because of an arbitrary number; people take them away from us by stepping in to our movement tasks.

Even the best intentions can have immobilizing consequences.

   I think life presents us many movement tests, and our day-to-day tasks are our homework and practice. A movement test might be catching yourself from falling, running for a bus, pushing your car off a road, playing catch, or even defending yourself in a life and death situation. A movement test is something you may not have planned for, but have to complete. Our day-to-day homework is in our daily moving, stretching, strengthening, as well as other practicing our own body awareness. Without practice, we will absolutely fail our movement tests. It is a very constant idea, especially as we age. I find that we, as a society, step in and complete the day-to-day tasks, with good intentions, accidently sabotaging any chance of successfully completing a movement test. This is where copying off of someone else’s homework only works until you are tested. Anybody who has tried to cheat in school would be familiar with this unfortunate outcome.

   I feel one major goal for an aging individual is preserving their independence. An article I had sent to me by a friend suggested that healthier people die more quickly. At first, I was confused, but after reading it, the title made sense. As we ‘improve’ in many aspects, people are living longer, on average, than our ancestors. However, they are living many of their later years with a lesser quality of life. The article states that a healthier person’s health shifts at a much faster rate, therefore making the process much quicker. Ideally, one would be independent, living life, until they depart with us. Instead of 10 years of discomfort and waiting, one could ideally have a day or two transition. You always hear stories about older people who were grocery shopping, cooking, and even playing euchre with their friends, and then the next day, gone. I feel that mobility is a huge factor to consider in that article, as well in this.

   So, is not giving up your seat, not bending over to grab something, and not holding the door the way to live your life in the name of movement justice? No, that will undoubtedly make you look like a complete ass. In the general public, I would recommend maintaining the social norms because most people would never consider this as a concept. However, for our friends and family members, I do think it is an important conversation to have. Our bodies are incredible, and will adapt to what we guide them to do. If we do nothing, and move minimally, eventually, that is what our body will accept as the norm. Eventually, if unchallenged, even something as remedial as getting out of bed, will become a movement test. It is important to do our homework, so when we are tested, we can overcome and move well. Slow down the process, challenge immobility in our elders and we will keep them healthier longer.

Move and invite movement constantly.