There’s a Zen proverb that says:
Before Enlightenment, chop wood carry water.
After Enlightenment, chop wood carry water.
It’s occurred to me that for best health, we might just as easily replace “Enlightenment” with “retirement”.
It’s not uncommon for me to hear my patients, friends and family say things like, “We should move into a single story house when we retire so we don’t have to worry about stairs,” or “I’m not going to walk outside in the winter in case I fall.” On the surface, these statements seem sensible. But are they?
In the book Healthy at 100, John Robbins talks about the “long lived” ones around the world – the groups of people who not only live the longest, but also live the healthiest for the longest. What do they have in common? They remain vigorously active, socially relevant and engaged in day-to-day work and life well into their old age.
Of course, “staying active” isn’t exactly breaking news. The real secret of these cultures, I think, is that they continue to live in circumstances that demand they stay active and engaged. They live on the sides of mountains, don’t (or can’t) retire, and work, walk and live in tight communities until they very end. They live in a world that doesn’t let them retire, withdraw, eat crap, watch TV and do nothing.
Is it possible we need to follow that lead? To retire to seven-story homes, not one-story ones? Or to not retire at all? Maybe we need to create circumstances that force us to stay active and engaged, as opposed to ones that give us the option of letting ourselves deteriorate.
Maybe retirement shouldn’t be about having to do less. Maybe it should be about having to do more.
Chop wood, carry water. It might be that simple.
This post originally appeared at http://stonetreeclinic.com/2012/03/13/chop-wood-carry-water-staying-healthy-in-retirement/, and was adapted and reprinted with permission.
Dan Clements writes and speaks on health, business and lifestyle design. Tara Gignac, ND, is a Naturopathic Doctor in private practice in Collingwood, ON. Together, they own and operate StoneTree Clinic, and are the authors of the sabbatical how-to guide Escape 101, which has appeared in such places as The Wall Street Journal, Success Magazine, Men’s Health, Forbes and The Miami Herald, and been endorsed by best-selling authors like Timothy Ferriss (The 4-Hour Workweek).
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Having worked with retirement age folks, as well as caring for my mother inlaw who just turned 90 ~ … I believe wholeheartedly in the above post! and that no matter what age, age is just a number. It is our mindset, our outlook and our attitude towards life that makes or breaks us. Movement is of utmost importance, whether sitting and moving, or walking and moving….and hopefully more… it keeps the blood from becoming stagnant and the mind from numbing. I walk with my mother inlaw each day; she keeps active in her community at clubs and functions as well as the local pool. She also creates jewelry with me a couple of times a week, to keep brain / eye coordination at its best. We do cross word puzzles in my spare time, and she eats nutritious, healthy foods…as I operate a holistic wellness online school to help others rejuvenate and become vibrant in their younger years as well as later. Thank you for posting this, what a great example for others to emulate! And if anyone should like to learn more about what we do at HHA, visit the following new youtube video we created! ~ Be well, Kristen Lauter ~ Holistic Healers Academy