One morning, while stretching out on the bedroom floor to do some back exercises, it occurred to me that those aren’t a temporary fix for some nagging arthritis; I’ll be doing them for the rest of my life. Big deal, eh? If you’re able to relate to this, you may have much more to talk about than a sore back. Many of us are living with medical conditions or ailments that will never end. Until we do. And dealing with them is sort of like brushing your teeth, i.e., non-negotiable.
I put this topic to the Class of ’65 Facebook group and received input from a number of class members, with a remarkably consistent theme: regardless of the ailment or its severity—and some have been living with a whole constellation of problems and unremitting pain for many years—they are determined that “It will not take over my life!” As a classmate who has had an almost inconceivable range of life-threatening medical conditions for decades because of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam put it, "I'm in it for the long run."
Not surprisingly, physical activity gets its due, including varying forms of those tedious daily exercises. One classmate said, “If I have to do them for the rest of my life, I will do that!” But most often the response was that what works best is focusing on whatever a person most enjoys. Being alive, for one thing. Also painting, gardening, teaching, making music, writing, joking around with friends… You’ll have your own answer. Connie Sekaros summed it up this way: “Dealing with chronic pain is very difficult, but I've found that regularly doing something I love moves the pain to the background.”
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