Exercise... the fountain of Youth!

I cannot believe that we are in May when I feel like we just watched the ball drop on New Years Eve. I’m happy it is Spring but this year a little sad that June is upon us. My first child, Boone, will be graduating from high school and I have mixed emotions. I am really excited for him in one breath and then sad for me in the second breath. Life as I have known it with my son is going to change very soon and I must admit I am not great with change. Boone wants to be an animator and truthfully, to be in the business he will need to live elsewhere after college for real opportunity in the animation business. While this is an exciting time in his life and I truly, truly want the best for him and I am happy that he has this incredible dream but my heart is sad that my time with him will never be the same. The day he was born was truly one of the absolute happiest days of my life!!!


Since college is just around the corner and obviously the expenses of college are also just around the corner, Boone and I have been working on applying for every scholarship and grant we can find out there. It has been quite a process. Many of these scholarships require that Boone write essays. One essay topic he had to write about was to answer the question: How would living a healthy lifestyle affect a students’ life at school?”. This was music to my ears that this organization realized how important our health is to our daily life.

Boone enjoyed writing this essay and seemed to have thought it out rather well. He listed several reasons he felt a healthy lifestyle would make his experience at school better.

Reason one: overall he felt he would live longer
Reason two: he felt he would miss less days from school
Reason three: he felt he wouldn’t need money for doctors appointments as often
Reason four: he felt he wouldn’t get tired as easily and that he would handle the stresses of being away from home better
Reason five: he felt in general his overall attitude of life would be better
Reason six: he felt it was important to control his weight because of the fatty foods that will most likely be served in the school cafeteria and because of the lack of portion control

I was impressed that at 18 he was able to realize that healthy living can make the above differences in our lives. The healthy affects listed above don’t necessarily have to be attached just to students, they fit working moms, working dads, stay home moms and the retired. Healthy living habits truly make a difference.

My other half, John and I, were looking at a magazine that showed a bunch of pictures of individuals back in the early 1900’s. The pictures had both men and woman and they listed their age. I was stunned to see woman that were in their 30’s who clearly looked like they were in their 60’s and men in their 20’s who clearly looked like they were in their 40’s. Obviously this was a different time and age but showed the hard lives these individuals had lived and how quickly they had aged.

My parents are in their 70’s now and I actually forget their age many days because they look so young to me and seem much younger. I think back to when my grandparents were their age and boy did they look and act much older. My parents have always stayed active and continue to travel, play golf and work their own yard. Fortunately they both enjoy doing things together which studies have shown keeps us younger as we age too. Daily activity keeps my parents younger and happier. They rarely have much downtime to any type of illness and they are both extremely happy and positive.

So the moral for today - Healthy living is the fountain of Youth!!

Have a nice evening, MaryAnne