By NH Choi
As newborns tend to do, my grandson throws tantrums when he is feeling sleepy or starting to wake up. But it’s no big problem. He is easily calmed when I hold him in my arms and move around in the room, as his mom often does.
But this practice is a cause of concern to my wife, who warns me about stumbling and, by doing so, putting the baby and myself in danger. She tells me to take extra care when standing up from the floor with the baby in my arms. Did she see me wobble when I stood up without a support to lean on?
I take great caution as I am told to. In addition, I have recently resumed pushups following a long hiatus. I have found that muscle strength is needed in caring for the baby for long hours as he has been gaining weight.
As a man in his early 70s, I am worried that old age may sneak in to get me off balance, causing me to take a wrong step and collapse. My worries are warranted, given I barely stood on one foot long enough to pass a balancing test during the recent medical checkup.
Moreover, I hear from time to time that a high school friend died of old-age disease. Some friends find themselves in an early stage of cancer or dementia. Some others suffer from different ailments, ranging from high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease to kidney failure, obesity, and diabetes.
Of course, many others are healthy enough to go out to golf every week or play billiards every day. Some of them even play such exhausting sports as tennis on weekends.
I wonder if their good health is inherited, nurtured, or the combination of the two. No matter what, there’s no denying that they are blessed. Health comes before anything else, as we recognize it at our late age.
I didn’t like any kind of physical exercise when I was in school1. I didn’t like playing soccer or any other ball games. Nor did I like to watch sports competitions on TV. I didn’t know what went wrong with me, but I could have traded anything for physical education.
When I started to work, I brought myself to take tennis lessons. I was persuaded that the easily accessible sport was good for health.
But it didn’t take long until I abandoned them because of my weak knees. I regretted that I spent a substantial amount of money on a racket, shoes, and lessons.
When I climbed to a managerial post as a senior journalist, I was pressured to play golf to connect with politicians and businessmen. I took lessons and went out to golf courses with colleagues for practice. Still, I failed at every attempt to develop a liking for golfing. Here again, the ill-advised effort proved to have been costly.
Later on, a big change came with diabetes, with which I was diagnosed in the early 2000s. The doctor advised me to exercise and lose weight. I took his advice faithfully, taking a long walk each day and cutting sharply down on the amount of food I consumed.
In less than a year, I was weaned off medication. I am now in the prediabetes stage, a serious health condition but not as severe as diabetes.
During the walks, each mostly lasting more than an hour, I could choose solitude, listen to music, or look around for scenery.
Each choice appealed to me. I was given an opportunity to reflect on my life, develop a taste for jazz, or have pleasure in looking at tiny roadside flowers that I would have ignored early on.
When I was taking a walk one day, I suddenly realized that I was at an advanced age. Yet, I found that I had no regrets. I came to terms with the aged me and decided to accept my old age with grace.
Added to the daily saunters are twice-weekly yoga lessons I am taking from Sue. It took a long time to take yoga as an exercise that was potentially suitable for me.
She had advised me to take yoga classes in Korea when she had left one of her yoga mats with me several years before. Several times in the past, she had taken me to the yoga class she had been teaching in California.
But I hadn’t taken her advice kindly. I had felt being dragged into physical education as in school.
Several months ago, she decided we would meet twice every week via Zoom for a yoga session. I half-heartedly agreed with her.
To my consolation, however, I found that the initial resistance to the yoga exercise was receding now. I decided it was okay to learn something from a daughter whom I had tried to teach every skill required for life long ago.
Now, I am familiarizing myself with yoga terminology and associated bodily movements, with frequent encouragement coming from Sue. I hope regular practices will make yoga a valuable part of my life.
Expert opinion has it that continued physical exercises contribute to longevity and health. I am unsure if it is more of a fact than a belief. But I know it is not uncommon that some are born to live long, be it with or without regular exercise.
Doing physical exercises to live a long life is of no great interest to me. I wish that walking, yoga, and the latest addition, pushups will work together to help me keep balance in the body and physical strength.
So that I can spend many more cherished moments with my grandson.
Editor: my mom was a shooting (I believe rifle?) champion in high school, so guess who I inherited my lack of interest in physical exercise from.