I’m a fan of the fairly obscure sport of disc golf. Despite its lack of popularity, I love to watch it. Watching pros throw a disc 300-400+’ and getting it to land on an island hole that’s less than 40′ wide is a beautiful art form to me. Some of these players can throw a disc 500-600′. I love watching these moments. Here’s a few great ones from Calvin Heimburg.
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I started playing disc golf when I was 49 years old. I feel great about throwing a disc 275+’. Recently I even hit 330′. I was incredibly excited about that throw. Still, I don’t have a lot of aspirations of throwing 600′ bombs. My sons see it in their future. But, they’re 20, 14, and 11. I think they’ll achieve that (#NelsonBoysDiscGolf). Nonetheless, I’m still working on my game.
The Reality of the Body
The truth we all face is that our bodies will not keep getting stronger. At some point, the weight of this world and the wear of age cause us to peak. Nonetheless,This reality doesn’t mean we should justify being unhealthy. But, it does mean that age will eventually limit our ability to throw longer, lift more, or do a variety of other things we used to do when we were younger.
What Does Last?
As I was reading this week I encountered a concept I hadn’t given much thought to. Our bodies will wear down. Yet, there are things in our lives that will get stronger and healthier when invested in.
While contemplating this premise and the nine elements of a person I realize that many of these things are within our control. I believe at least 7 of these elements cannot be weakened by age. In fact, I think they will be strengthened. Here they are:
- Spiritual
- Relational
- Emotional
- Intellectual
- Financial
- Environmental
- Cultural
Perhaps this begs the another question. What are the two things that may have limitations by age? Ironically, they are the two things most of us put most of our attention towards.
- Physical
- Vocational (Although one could argue this just changes in retirement.)
This prompts me to reconsider all the time we invest in careers and health. It’s not that those things are not important. Indeed, they absolutely are. Without good health you may not have a season after retirement. Without a good vocational track you may struggle to achieve some of the other things (If your miserable in your career are you going to thrive in these other areas?). However, intentional investment in these other areas will create impact beyond the peak of our health and careers.
Thoughts? How can you be more intentional about longer-lasting impacts in your life?
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