Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Problems of Aging

After we reach the top of the hill at 50, our bodies are more prone to experiencing minor problems. Luckily, we easily learn to live with them. That’s especially true of digestive problems. There comes a time when we all must adjust what we ingest.

Take coffee, for example. While most of us enjoyed it for years at any time of the day without problems, we suddenly come to the realization that an after-dinner cup begins to play havoc with our sleep patterns. The solution is to adapt by replacing coffee with a cup of herbal tea, or by switching to decaf in the evening. When other drinks or foods cause problems for our digestion, usually the adjustment is easy to enough. People who become lactose intolerant simply switch to lactose-free milk, and so on.

Other problems cannot be solved so easily. Case in point, my own problem. I recently found out after travelling a bumpy road for a while that I have become intolerant of chocolate which causes me digestive challenges. However, after discussions with my GP, I learned that an allergy to chocolate is very rare indeed, and that I must be intolerant of other ingredients mixed in with the chocolate, like milk, nuts, and so on.  To say that, like most people, I always loved chocolate would be putting it mildly, so I am now on a quest for pure chocolate so I can enjoy its taste without problems. So far so good, and it’s much better than having to give it up entirely. With Christmas fast coming into view, I am relieved that my life doesn’t have to be entirely chocolate free.

And I can still smell it, so why should I complain. Far more troublesome would be a food intolerance/allergic reaction that would make me swell up or have respiratory issues as some people face.

As we adjust to the challenges of aging, the secret to being happy is in my view quite simple: we must be grateful that despite its challenges we are privileged to be able to age. Many people were not given that opportunity.