Jared Diamond Talks About Being Careful

I intended to write about exercise today, because my back has been hurting on and off and when I took stock, I realized I had not been getting as much exercise as I should, and have neglected my (minimal) yoga practice almost completely.

But yesterday, as I was finishing up a new knitted cap... a rather nice one, if I do say so myself... I listened to an interview of Jared Diamond, one of my favorite authors. He is best known for Guns, Germs and Steel, which by the way is available to read free on Kindle if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber. I most recently read Collapse, which was very informative and thought-provoking. Dr. Diamond is a brilliant thinker, in my opinion, whose ability to synthesize large amounts of historical, geographical, and scientific information, in a very multidisciplinary way, makes him a very unique author in this age of specialization.

The interview was a podcast from The Commonwealth Club of California. I don't know much about this non-profit organization, but they do seem to present some very interesting interviews of all sorts of people and manner of topics. Some are more pertinent to residents of the Golden State (which I no longer am), but many are not and provide a great, free source of entertainment, since they make them available at no cost as podcast recordings. The Diamond interview I listened to can be found here. You can stream it right from the website, or as I do, use a podcatcher on your tablet or phone.

Well, Diamond, who is in his early 70s, talked a bit about risk and mentioned that we tend to worry about things that are statistically extremely unlikely to happen to us, when we should worry more about things that are a genuine risk. He pointed out that as he ascended the dais to speak, he had  kept his hand on the railing and proceeded rather carefully. His point was that falls are a significant risk to the over-65 set and that they happen commonly and can have very serious consequences in people our age. He mentioned a few individuals close to him who had fallen.

OK. This is not something I don't already know. I've read about the danger of falling and hip fractures in seniors, and even that hip fractures in an older population sometimes lead to death. But I haven't been as careful about falling as I should be. Why not? I think that somehow I still don't really see myself as "old." I think that is something common to many of us younger seniors, compared to those from our parents' generation. When we were younger we were active - we jogged, did aerobics, went to the gym. And many of us never stopped, though we have often slowed down.

But I am old. Neither my balance nor my eyesight are what they were a decade ago. So I need to take Diamond's advice and be proactively cautious. This winter has not been as icy as last, in my area, and since I'm avoiding the bus to avoid the flu, I've often walked when I normally might take the bus. But sometimes it's been a bit dicey, even when I wear my lug-soled boots. I need to stop that.

I need to make some new habits. When it's icy out, I will take the bus rather than walking, and when it's particularly bad I'll cancel the activity. I usually walk a little over a half-mile to get my groceries, but I can take the bus almost to the door of the nearest Acme market. My students won't mind if I cancel tutoring sessions or class occasionally. I'll be the one feeling guilty, and I need to get over that.

In addition, I need to just slow down and be mindful of hazards in the home. I usually keep a hand on the railing when going downstairs, but that needs to be 100% of the time. And I will be more diligent about going through the house every day and removing odds and ends that I could trip over. I'm really bad about kicking off my shoes and leaving them lying about, but even small items like that are a trip-and-fall hazard. My house will stay less cluttered, too... a bonus. Diamond pointed out that the bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house for oldsters. I think I'm going to find and apply some of those non-skid strips to the bottom of my bathtub, just as a precaution.

Another thing I've never seen anyone talk about. I know that when I do yoga regularly, my balance is better and I'm less likely to stumble or trip. I'm not sure what exactly happens, but yoga somehow makes my "body awareness" more acute. I need to get back to regular yoga sessions for my back, but I think I also need yoga to make me a little less at-risk for falling.

By the way, the last time I hurt myself in a fall was two years ago, and it wasn't even icy. I was walking to the store, wearing clogs (bad idea), and tripped over some broken sidewalk. No damage done, I thought at first, but later I realized the little finger on my right hand was swollen and aching. Not bad, though, so I didn't see a doctor. Well, the swelling got a bit worse and the aching continued for months, and still comes back occasionally! I need to think about that minor incident, and remember that for someone my age, a similar fall, or any fall, could have much more serious consequences. And behave accordingly. Act my age, in other words.