The Old Guy: On a healthy way of life for my generation – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- I never get sick anymore. So, when a bug caught me right before Thanksgiving, I was both annoyed and worried. Getting sick before a family holiday is a big drag, because you want to be with your family, you just dont want to leave them with whatever it is youve got.

When I taught, I was constantly ill. Kids are mobile petrie dishes. I even developed pneumonia from my kids once, a fact my then Principal seemed unaware of when she questioned my six day absence. She also seemed unaware that pneumonia is contagious.

...Sigh...

I dont miss being in that type of environment. I do miss my kids, especially around the holidays.

I read on the WeAreTeachers Helpline Facebook page recently that administrators seemed to be coming out of the walls at one school, making surprise visits into classrooms. Probably looking to catch somebody with their feet on their desk showing a video, like in that movie Bad Teacher.

Yeah. Cause, you know, the day ends at three and we have summers off.NOT!!!

I always played it a bit looser during the holidays because I love celebrations. And, for some of my kids, family holidays werent always that great. So, we created an alternate family in our room. We ate food and watched movies and wrote about the holidays. And, we laughed. A lot. Because, laughter is the way to a persons heart.

And, I mean, you really had to laugh. Here we were, fifteen kids and one teacher stuck in a windowless room by the gym. Hardly anybody knew where we were, unless we called for help. We were an island unto ourselves.

And, I was trying to show my kids how to celebrate. For a lot of them, life was hard. Learning should be both rigorous and joyful. It should never be difficult.

I cant get over the fact that, when I was working, staff were encouraged to come in sick, which is a huge mistake. Youre not at your best, and you need to be because teaching is totally unpredictable. Secondly, youre exposing your kids to germs as well as receiving several handfuls from them. Bad, all the way round. Im glad that the effort to ensure paid sick days is gathering steam. And teachers have 10 sick days a year, which is one a month. But, as one principal told me, that doesnt mean you should use them.

...Sigh...

A teachers job is not to make things easier for their administrator. It is to teach their students how to become compassionate, intelligent, mature individuals in a complex world. Anything else is just window dressing or worse.

So much for Memory Lane. Back to aging.

What are the risk factors for people over 65? According to WHO (The World Health Organization), theres a lot to be concerned about. Injury due to falls is high up there. Patterns of what they term harmful behavior can lead to illnesses later on. Five chronic conditions (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and mental disorders) account for 77% of illness and 85% of death rates. Poverty is higher among older women than older men. Social isolation and exclusion and elder maltreatment often occur.

So, what can we do to stave all of this off? As you know, Im a big believer in preventative medicine, seeking help and treatment before the problems arise. I also believe strongly in acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, massage therapy and good oral health care. All of these factor into general wellness and a breakdown in any part of your system as you age can also affect other areas of your body.

A friend who is exactly 24 hours younger than me (we were born in the same hospital 24 hours apart and only met in 1977!) told me recently he had pneumonia and bells went off in my head. I told him post haste to seek treatment and that pneumonia was nothing to **** with. Trust me, it only gets worse with age, as many things do.

I dont want to sound alarmist, but if we dont take extraordinary care of ourselves now, we wont be around for the really great things in life like grandchildren, cruises, binge watching Netflix and just doin nuthin. This is the time of our lives when all that and more should be available to us and well want to take advantage of them. But, to paraphrase a Billy Joel tune, no sense having an expensive car if you cant drive it because your back problems are too severe.

You have to get proactive because, sadly, our health care system in America is profit driven and there is no profit to be made in a cure. So it benefits certain parties if we all remain sick.

The best way to care for yourself is to listen to your body. You pretty much know when things are off, much as you do with the car you drive. If something feels amiss, have it checked out. Better a false alarm than alarming news.

Be kind to yourself and to others. And, hold those grey heads up!

The rest is here:
The Old Guy: On a healthy way of life for my generation - SILive.com