Use it or lose it

My Dad had a small number of incisive sayings that he repeated tirelessly. My personal favorite was "use it or lose it". As I get older I have this sense that if I can just keep on doing what I am doing I will be able to keep it going indefinitely. But as soon as I back off, its all downhill. Ironically, I see by looking back that I have already gone agood way down the slope without feeling like I gave in to anything. Maybe that's as good as it gets. Inevitability aside, with the possible exception of health issues that people just don't deserve, and erectile dysfunction, one does seem to improve the probability of a decent quality of life by determinedly staying active. How active is a good question. Susceptibility to injury definitely increases, from a lower level of exertion, as we age. At the same time, it gets easier to talk myself into taking a pass on a workout, every year. There is some apparent sweet spot I suspect. I don't anticipate competing in the Ironman in the future, but I am damn sure going to work to avoid getting bedsores on my ass. I remember how Pop used to sit on a rock to rest at the half way point between the back door and the mailbox, as he walked to get the newspaper. I remember urging him to push it a little more, not realizing that he had in fact found his sweet spot. Just another thing that he understood that I didn't I guess.