Happy Sacred Sunday!
Did you know toilets come in different heights?
Pretty random conversation to be having on this beautiful Sunday, but stick with me — I promise there’s a point to be made.
When we began our home remodel, a family member offered me a piece of advice:
“Make sure you get yourself a taller toilet.”
I paid little attention to this suggestion until multiple, unrelated people told me the same thing. “It may not seem like an issue now, but once you’re in your 60s, it gets harder to get up from your toilet seat! Do yourself a favor and get yourself a “comfort height” toilet now.”
Curious, I called a former colleague of mine who is in her late 70s already.
“Maria, this may be a strange question, but do you have a standard toilet or a taller, comfort one?”
She did not know what I was talking about.
“I was told when I get older I’m going to need a taller one and I want to know if that happened to you.”
“I’ve never even thought about it,” Maria said, confused. “But I can tell you I have no trouble getting up from the toilet, even at my age.”
Maria has always maintained a clean diet and a physical lifestyle. To this day, she is extremely active. She walks a lot, cooks a lot, cleans a lot, and even gardens.
I realized maybe Maria doesn’t need a taller toilet because her legs are still strong enough to squat and stand.
WHAT ARE WE PREPARING FOR?
This got me asking this question:
Why do we prepare in advance to support our limitations rather than try to prevent them?
Why was the advice “Make sure you get a taller toilet,” rather than “Make sure you squat and keep your legs strong or it may get harder to get up from the toilet when you get older!”
There is nothing wrong with having a taller toilet. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
But it’s not about the toilet.
It’s about the future we’re preparing for.
They say how you do one thing is how you do everything.
Our society profits by creating problems and then offering solutions that could have been unnecessary.
We eat sugary, processed foods and then we need medications to treat weight loss, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and more.
We over-consume material things and then we need storage solutions to hold all these things we didn’t need.
We spend all day sitting in front of screens and then we need products to help us with our lack of mobility.
With aging, we chalk up most of our ailments to natural progression. We assume that it’s part of the process of getting older. So, of course, it seems wise to think ahead and plan accordingly by making our inevitable discomfort more comfortable.
But I don’t buy it! I’ve seen how age hits differently to people who don’t assume they will break down. Watch the interview I had with Chris Crowley, author of Younger Next Year, where we talk about creating a life that postpones or eliminates 50-70% of our diseases and problems of aging!
PLANNING DIFFERENTLY
I propose we change the script.
Let’s avoid the things now that create problems later rather than trying to make our future discomforts more comfortable!
That’s why I believe so adamantly in things like fasting once a quarter, staying active, and surrounding myself with a positive environment.
I can’t guarantee that I won’t have problems as I age, but I choose to live a life now that supports the healthiest version of myself tomorrow.
On this Sacred Sunday, I invite you to reflect on what kind of future you’re preparing for.
