(#5659) The truth is pain is my constant companion

      I feel like I need to write about this subject. For me and I truly suspect all of us who are older now is that we have learned through necessity that pain will always be with us no matter how we try to alleviate it. Not just the emotional pain of loss and sacrifice but the physical pain that wracks our bodies in different ways. For me it is the assumption that a life lived hard and fast is coming due with the cost of that choice. I think it might be easier to tell others where there is no pain than where there is pain. It is pretty much everywhere within me now. I have pain relief antidotes that are only short term which help get me through the day but are no cure for aging and the body breaking down.
     It is a fact of life that is not expressed clearly enough so that when we are younger we can at least temper our actions and behaviors with some moderation. Working against me was my feeling of being invincible and that feeling giving me free reign to push the envelope of my abilities to even further stress and strain. So much so that now as I am less that young man physically my body is letting me know that it didn't appreciate all that hardship I put on it when it was much more vital than now. The power I once had has been diminished and the agility I built up is now suspect. I move slower now and with more caution out of a sense of knowing that what I could adjust to on the fly when young is no longer an option.
     What is most trying though is the constant pain. Simple tasks are now filled with jabs and aches of pain. What would seem unlikely to hurt just a few years ago now is anticipated with an angst. Getting older requires a discipline that is not understood by too many and obviously not enough by myself. Yet the alternative to getting older is worse so adapting to the pain and the reduction in my behavior and actions becomes my new set of protocols. We all get to our older age from different experiences but the end result is that we do change from young and strong to less so. With that comes the cost of all that youthful vigor. I am not telling anyone to slow down in their living their lives but keep in mind an age reckoning is on the horizon and those fortunate enough to get to an older age will have a cost to pay for it.