There is a saying that a day in a gym, cycling, swimming, running is prayer begging for one additional quality day in our life when we grow old. You see, growing old is a privilege and it is not a guaranteed one.
As we grow old, more than anything in the world, health becomes very important. No amount of money or multiple properties or that towering ego we have built over a long period of time will be of any use.
Like anything in life, compounding is a magic - be it financial investments or building a healthy lifestyle. It is done over a long period of time - a day at a time.
I want to illustrate this with the habits of my father. My father is 96 years old today. He lives right next to me - a proud man - loves independence. He is a retired teacher who worked in a government school for over 30 years. He hardly had any money but somehow managed to raise four of us.
There is one positive catch in his career. He always lived eight kilometers away from his home (in our village) and cycled each day to school - cycling 16 kilometers a day (both ways). He, in short, cycled about 1,55,520 kilometers during his service - rain or shine.
I must admit that he did that as it was the cheapest mode of transport available - everything else required money and the family budget did not allow that.
Recently, due to age related complications, he got sick and a lot of water accumulated in the lungs and heart. In ICU, doctors expected the worst and planned for a ventilator. But, he managed to recover with the help of oxygen in four days and is still recuperating. The diagnosis showed that his heart is able to fight the fluid pressure and manage the hardship. We are lucky to have him back in the house.
The effort he has put throughout his life is coming to help today. Healthy with strong heart and sharp mind - willingness to fight comes from lifelong commitment to health and wellbeing. I wanted to write this even though this is a close personal story, because - lot of us forget the importance of a healthy life and why it requires a long time commitment. My father is a living testament to this.
Short term hardship is the step towards long term health.
Let us pray for one additional quality day in life starting today!