“Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person beginning to separate themselves from the pack, it’s almost always due to personal growth.”–John C. Maxwell
In human existence, we are growing, we are stagnating, or we are decaying. We tend to think of aging as a natural process of decline. While it is true that physical processes do decline with age, there is no reason to believe that the process of aging and physical disability are certain. Orison Swett Marden wrote in The Miracle of Right Thought that “a man is like a fine clock, which, if properly cared for, will keep splendid time and run for a century, but, if neglected or abused, will very soon get out of order, and wear out or give out before it should.”
Why must we use phrases like “grow old” and imply declining function? How is it that growth and aging are so negatively equated?
Growth is a positive process. There is no indication of negativity. Growth is equated to increase and maturity. Never is growth considered a process of decline.
Old is a term of relativity. Certainly any of us who are over fifty remember when fifty was old. Now, however, we would hesitate to call ourselves old (or at least we should). What, then, becomes old? Sixty? Seventy? Eighty? One hundred?—Only until we hit these milestones.
Age is really just a tick of time. What meaning is there in the phase: “Act your age”? Honestly, what is a 50 year-old supposed to act like?!
Aging is a maturation process. Physically, humans reach full maturity around 30 years. Is life then like the old wooden rollercoasters where click-click-click we steadily climb the rails of physical maturity, pause briefly at the pinnacle, only to scream “Oh, sh———“ as we plunge rapidly to the bottom? What nonsense is the notion that one should expect a rapid decline in physical abilities, as we grow “old”?
In my exercise physiology course, I teach my students that muscle mass declines 10% from 25 to 50 years of age. Muscle mass declines an additional 40% from the age of 50 to 80 years! This is not very promising until we add that much of this decline is simply a matter of disuse—the old principle of “use it or lose it.” Our bodies don’t wear out. They rust out!
From a well-centered fitness perspective, we should be regularly growing spiritually, physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially. We are supposed to be our best today and be better tomorrow. We must establish a plan for regular growth. (Note: I say “regular growth”. Constant growth is not reasonable. We will most likely see periods of accelerated growth, steady state, and even atrophy, but overall we should see progress.)
From a physical prospective, I tell my students that, if we can simply maintain over the years, we will eventually exceed our peers, who have allowed life to interfere with their growth progress. I recently saw a story about a 94 year-old man who broke the bench-pressing record for his age group with a bench press of 206 lb. It occurred to me that, while my bench press is not currently impressive, if I could maintain for 40 years, I could shatter this record.
Progress might be slower in our later years, but we can progress. It is never too late to establish a growth plan for one’s self. Certainly, the sooner the better, and there is no better time than the present.
“If you wish to appear young think of yourself as being constantly renewed, rejuvenated, for there is a perpetual renewal going on in the cells of your body. Think of youth as the everlasting fact and old age conditions as false, unnecessary, unnatural, caused largely by old age thought habits, race habits, old age convictions. Say to yourself, ‘I cannot grow old because I am perpetually being made new, and new cells cannot look old unless made so by old age thought and conviction.’ Think life, live it; think youth, live it; feel it, express it from every pore of your being!”—Orison Swett Marden