Why can’t some senior citizens stay fit? Regardless of our age, we’ve all heard annoying phrases like “eat healthy” and “make sure you exercise regularly.”
So if it’s not a lack of health consciousness that’s preventing some of us from getting up and moving around, then what is it? There are many factors that influence our health, but I believe that for citizens of elderly age there is a strong lack of self-awareness that demoralizes the will to try to lead a healthy lifestyle. That is, many seniors disregard their significant contribution to society and especially their potential in sharing knowledge to the younger generations. Without the feeling of being needed or seeing value in oneself, one may not see a reason to try and live a healthy lifestyle. To each senior out there, let me illuminate on why you are still obligated to live with good health and happiness by sharing a bit on how a senior in my life, my grandmother, changed my life for the better. In doing so, I hope to spark a sense of desire in you to stay active and take better care of yourself.
Before I met my grandmother, I was ignorant for my age. I barely knew anything about my family history and the hardships endured by people of the past. I didn’t know how fortunate I was. That all changed after living with my grandmother. My grandmother’s proper guidance helped shape me into a better human being. I gained greater understanding of my culture, religion and the diversity present within this world.
This in turn opened my mind to wider horizons and showed me how similar humanity is on so many levels. By having someone wiser in the house at an early age, the seeds that would grow to help give me a stronger foundation in ethics and academics were planted within me. I had an eyewitness sharing detailed stories from a different time and a completely different lifestyle. I learned that there is more to life than video games and Pokémon cards (an addicting card game for children of my time) and that if I wanted to have a prosperous future I needed to invest in myself by loving what I study.
My grandmother’s nursing inspired me to seek and gain knowledge in any field that will not only allow me to help myself, but to also help everyone around me. This is just a snippet of how my grandmother has changed my life for the better.
Now, not every senior out there is a grandparent. Or maybe your grandchildren have other things to do or are all grown up and busy with their own lives. Regardless of the circumstance, each senior out there still has some sort of job to do on this planet.
My grandmother’s job was to help direct me into the right path throughout my childhood. The job may be different for each senior. It’s your duty to find this job and make sure that you complete it. The elderly built this world and we need people with long-term experience on this planet to share their wisdom so that we can create a stronger future for the younger generations.
We can’t learn everything out there from a textbook or the Internet. So to all the seniors, please get active, take better care of yourselves, and start realizing how important you are to so many people.
This world still needs you.
Submitted by Aurash Yazdgerdian
