Balance - Psychological Style

Fifty-Plus Fitness Library

Library : Year 2 | Session 11: Mental Side of Fitness -- Impact of Aging on Intellect

Balance - Psychological Style

Dr. Thomas A. Tutko
ph: 408 688-7249

Although most of us think of balance as a physical dimension (ways of keeping from falling down) perhaps a far more important way of gaining and maintaining our equilibrium is our psychological balance. This form of balance is far less clear, more difficult to understand and is in a state of constant flux.

Perhaps the first step is to define psychological balance. Briefly stated, it is incorporating the many aspects of our lives that enable us to feel excited, enriched and fulfilled. As the army advertisement states, it is "Being all that we can be."

We know when we are OUT of balance when something seems "missing" in our lives in that there is a void. Imbalance also occurs when we have hit a plateau (we refer to it as spinning our wheels), become dull, monotonous or leave last that "spark" in our lives.

Exercise plays a particularly important role in our life's balance, especially as we grow old. It is the catalyst that allows this balance to take place and the mortar that holds the element together.

Unfortunately the perception of exercise on age takes a strange twist as we mature and the result is that exercise in our daily lives takes one of two directions.

The most common direction for older individual to take when considering exercise is to abandon, eliminate or severely minimize it. As we get older the general attitude about exercise is that it is for the "young folks" and we develop an arsenal of excuses for avoiding physical activity. We don't have the time, we may hurt ourselves, there are just too many aches and pains or the most common one "I'm just too old for that stuff."

On the other hand there are those who go in the opposite direction. Although few in number these are the "exercise junkies" desperately trying to regain their youth by putting their bodies to the test. These "over compensators" are the 69 year olds with the mental attitude of a 16 year-old putting their bodies at risk.

This imbalance of too little or too much is often a sad commentary in later years. This sadness lies in the fact that when exercise can play such a vital role in attaining psychological balance, we fit it into our life fulfillment formula in very inappropriate ways.

So what is the solution to the most perplexing problem? Listed below are several recommendations for coping with the exercise dilemmas as you grow older.

Recommendation #1

Exercise needs to be a part of your everyday routine. It is just as critical, in fact, more critical than some of your daily routine, your daily habits make it so.

Recommendation #2

Exercise can be fun. The way to do that is to personally select the physical activities you will enjoy. Get selfish about what you do and how you do it. After all it is your life.

Recommendation #3

As a reinforcement for physical exercise, do some homework, i.e., talk to others, get some reading material, join a club, anything that provides an additional outside source for keeping you physically involved.

Recommendation #4

Monitor your physical activities i.e., keep track of pulse rate, weight, times when you are active, etc. In addition, note your general psychological disposition.

Recommendation #5

Be in control of your exercise, don't let it control you. Imbalance in having exercise running your life may be just as oppressive as doing nothing. The balance is the thing.

Rarely is exercise tied to our life's balance and yet we are physical beings just as much as we are mental beings. Exercise keeps us in contact with our physical nature. To neglect or abandon it or to go overboard keeps us from our full potential. Be all that you can be — exercise sensibly.