“I’m seeing ‘tings”

I’ve been getting good bio-feedback lately, in that, at 70, my muscle memory still remembers me. Or. as Robert De Niro would put it, “I’m seein’ ‘tings.” Since September 1, of this year, not expecting great results, I hit the gym and started taking my iron pills.

Instead of experiencing a “decline,” I’m “inclined” to believe that your muscle base never leaves and all you have to do is tighten up your diet, get some aerobics, (your choice) and hit the gym. This I can say, really works. At any age, may I dare add. And no one is more surprised than me.

Now, having a compulsive personality, (I can get hooked on stubbing my toe) and knowing addiction to anything has always worked in my favor (if it’s positive) and all I have to do is pull my starter cord and I’m off. (Don’t go there.)

I did a talk once on my version of compulsion at Salem State Teacher’s College and was roundly criticized for my approach. Which was titled “Switching Compulsions Mid Stream.” 🙂

A slovenly looking psychologist with two different socks and a smelly pipe led the charge. Glad he wasn’t there at the detox intake unit when I arrived some years later.

As I have written before, I spent 7 days at a VA rehab unit in Bedford  Ma. this past summer. The physical conditioning or the lack thereof on a lot of the staff, physicians included, was eye opening.

They were 10, 15, and twenty years or more, younger than me, and they were done, physically over, stick a fork in ’em. Weight training is not part of civilian culture anymore. Too bad.

How does a doc tell you to slim down, eat right and exercise, if it’s not part of their own daily regimen?

I know this, though, I have absolutely no plans on hanging around this planet in various states of disrepair, not if I can help it anyway. After all, life is tough enough, isn’t it?

On the way out of the gym today, the owner said, “Hey Bob, looking good, want to renew your membership?” I said “No, but I’ll take 10 feet of that mirror.”

Bob O’Hearn
President & CEO,