How many pillows do you use to sleep? I use at least two. One pillow is for my head and the other is for my knees. At my age certain parts of my body ache just to aggravate me. When I was young, I would get sore when I worked hard outside or taxed my body. I was over the soreness much quicker then and always ready to spring back into action. Nowadays it takes a couple of months to get over being sore. I don’t bounce back as quickly as I used to.
I know there is a big rise in gym memberships at the beginning of the new year. I have never chosen to be one of those people. I do need to exercise more, but I don’t make the time. I am guilty of pledging to eat healthier and get more rest. I do make more effort with this one. Exercising and eating right are two of the top resolutions people make. It is amazing what we do to try to feel younger. I get lots of advertisements in my email about outsmarting old age. I received one yesterday about the fountain of youth. I know some of these things may help us stay sharper and healthier, but I haven’t seen anything that stops the body from deteriorating. Our choices may help slow down the process, but the body isn’t designed to last forever. When Adam and Eve sinned, that insured death would come to us all eventually.
One of my friends has a relative that is very health conscious and active. He has done all the right things to stay healthy, but he was diagnosed with colon cancer at thirty years of age. I know someone else who has been a vegetarian for years, and she was diagnosed with cancer. If we don’t take care of our physical bodies, it may increase our chances of getting a terminal disease. But as you can see, there are no guarantees in this present world.
Every part of our bodies deteriorates with time. If we make it to forty without having to get glasses, doctors are shocked. Our eyes gradually get weaker as we get older. Many times, we have to have cataract surgery in order to renew our driver’s licenses. How many older adults do you know that need hearing aids and won’t get them? Our friend’s wife said her husband doesn’t want one so he won’t hear her. I am sure she was joking, or was she? The sad truth is our hearing gradually weakens as we get older as well.
What about muscle strength? Not many of us have the stamina and the will power of Jack LaLanne, the godfather of physical fitness. He had his last dessert when he was fifteen years old. Mr. LaLanne had the first physical fitness show on television. “For his 70th birthday, he pulled 70 boats across the Long Beach, California harbor with one person in each of them, swimming while shackled and handcuffed.” He made the statement “I can’t die. It would ruin my image.” He was healthy up until his death, but since we all die, Jack LaLanne died of pneumonia at the age of 96. (Imdb.com)
So our bodies deteriorate slowly but surely. Our internal organs wear out, too. Our brains are not as sharp as we age. Mine would be sharper if I did not put as much garbage in my body. I just can’t seem to want to eat fresh fruit and vegetables all of the time. Can’t is the wrong word. I guess I don’t choose to eat as healthy as I should. I just love food! Eating garbage affects our other organs, too. Our liver cleans out the pollutants along with our kidneys. I know several older people who are in differing levels of kidney failure.
Let’s not forget about the heart. Most people would say our heart is our most important muscle. We must take care of it. Many people exercise every day just to keep the heart ticking properly. Of course, some of us are couch potatoes and don’t take care of them at all. The doctors make millions caring for the hearts of their patients. The pharmaceutical companies bleed us dry. We really work hard and spend a fortune to keep the heart muscle in shape.
Of course there is another aspect of the heart that must be considered. Just as we exercise our bodies, we must exercise the emotional side of our hearts. Do we work so hard to manage the affairs of the heart? Love is one of those things that can deteriorate or grow. Even though we have no choice where the body is concerned, we do have a choice with our hearts. Our ability to love can grow with leaps and bounds.
When we were young we had what some people call “puppy love.” It was more of a crush on another young person. We were all starry-eyed when we thought of them and felt all gushy inside. We were in love with how they made us feel. Unfortunately, many people never grow from the “puppy love” stage. I guess it is a form of selfish love.
What makes love grow? How does a child’s love go from being totally selfish to loving others? What makes the difference? It has to start when he is young. I know some grumpy old people, and I know others that are just as sweet as they can be. What makes the difference?
It has to be a choice. We choose to love, or we choose to be bitter. The people that are sweet and loving have spent their lives doing things for others. They are the ones that bring food to the hungry or dry the tears of a crying child. Many of the sweet older people have stood by the side of someone else when they were needed. They did not choose to harbor bitterness or anger when they were wronged. They have opened their hearts to those who need them, even if they might get hurt in the process. They have exercised their hearts. Loving hearts are not rusty or brittle. They are worn out by loving others.
Our Lord uses His heart. He uses it every day. In order to be like Him we must always use our hearts. The only way for our love to grow and become unconditional is to love like Christ. And to love like Christ, we must love Him first. Matthew 22:37 explains how we are supposed to love God. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
That is the secret to perfect love. If we love God with every ounce of our being, our love for others will grow to a point we cannot contain it. God loved us so much He gave His Son. Jesus willingly suffered and died for us! What greater love could there be? I am so thankful for our Savior’s example.
Let us practice loving so our love can grow! I hope I never become a grumpy old woman. I want my love to grow each day as I attempt to love others through Christ. May my epitaph say “She loved us all.” What a legacy!
Mrs. Worthington has five children and eleven grandchildren. She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.