Time rolls along for all those lucky enough to live a long life. An awful lot of things simply happen, many of them out of our control. But aging gracefully, with a strong body and cheerful outlook, allows you to steer the ship through or around bad storms.
Consider the case of our friend Polly Kegler, the very picture of health and well-being, who believes that the celebration of our own lives is something to preside over every day.
Health is the engine that drives her life, including both physical and emotional dimensions. Rather than viewing exercise as drudgery that must be checked off her to-do list, Kegler sees it as just one of the fun things she’s allowed to do through the gift of life.
Like all of us, for many years Kegler focused on being skinny. She’s been a runner, and an aerobics girl, but now, at 75, she’s a lifter at UpLift with a changed attitude about health that has made all the difference: focus on being strong and healthy, not skinny. Kegler found that when she focused on being skinny, she always failed—something a lot of us can relate to.
“Just keep moving. Park as far away from the store entrance as possible. Avoid elevators. Love stairs,” says Kegler. For her, getting older is not shut-down time. She and husband Dennis are extremely happy in retirement, she says, because they can actually enjoy life and each other without the interruption of health problems.
Jill Strand and Chris Radke are owners and certified trainers at UpLift Guided Fitness in Woodbury.
