Just as a car depreciates with time, so does your body. It’s gradually reclaimed by nature as you grow older. Nature asserts her right to decompose you. Yet, this isn’t a curse. It might even be a blessing, enabling you to experience so much more than bodily pleasures and egoic mirror gazing. With time (and wisdom), we come to understand that it’s not essential what the outside of the car looks like, only that the feeling inside the car is spacious and comfortable.
While this might seem perfectly reasonable in theory, today, it feels as though my rental car is labeled “Hurts” instead of “Hertz.” Why is it that completing back-to-back days of long hikes (50,000 steps in two days) would have been a breeze a decade ago, yet now, I find myself with Ten Thousand Waves Spa here in Santa Fe on speed dial as I rush up there for a massage?
There is a PBS series that’s nearly 50 years old called “This Old House.” Given the longevity trends and people staying active as they age, I think it’s time for a new show called “This Old Body.”