I was just reminded of why I (and we!) choose a life of dynamic aging.

After a Dragon Boat paddling practice this spring, I couldn’t find my water bottle and gloves. I knew I had gotten out of the boat with them and thought I had set them on the dock, but they were gone. I walked up the public dock to the nearby café to see if anyone from the team had grabbed them. Nope. So I headed back down the long dock to look.

Eventually I spotted them floating in the water near some big pilings between the workout boats.

Hmmmmm. I think I can get that. First foolish thought. I edged along the lower beams below the dock and climbed down on the steel structures close to the water where they were just out of reach. It looked like too big a stretch to get them from the bow of the boat and I didn’t have a hook. All was good until that one misstep — stepping down on something I thought looked solid. But wasn’t.

Kersplash.

My first thought, immersed in the 50 degree muddy river water in March in Portland, Oregon, was, Well, that was stupid.
My friend and fitness trainer calls that “instant regret!”
Second thought, How am I going to get out of the water?
Next thought, I don’t have too long because the water is damn cold.
Final thought, And nobody knows I’m down here.

Boots filled with water, clothing soaked, no one to call for help, I eventually managed to pull myself back up on to the dock.

It was an uncomfortable (and cold) life lesson. At 73, I’m apparently not too old for more life lessons. I wish.

My biggest takeaway –– if I hadn’t been actively doing strength training, I doubt I could have pulled myself out of the cold water, especially with layers of soggy clothes and boots full of water.

I went through a lot of emotions while I was driving home, sinking into my heated car seats and starting to thaw out. I was feeling the endorphin high of having cheated death again as I called my trainer, Nancy Allen Burns of Body Wisdom Studio, on the drive home to thank her for making me pick up heavy weights two times a week which gave me the upper body strength to pull myself out of the water. It probably saved my life. She’s 76 and my hero.

I was bone-tired exhausted when I got home. I didn’t think I had been in danger of dying, but I also think getting out of the water in time wasn’t a sure thing either.

Now my incentive remains even higher to keep moving, to keep a diverse movement practice, to maintain strength as I age. Dynamic Aging definitely improves my quality of life, but it also can save my life, too.

Sylvia Fox, Editor
Portland, Oregon