“Age Is Just a Number” — Well, It Depends

Let’s not confuse different areas of life

Photo by MART PRODUCTION

People often say that “age is just a number” based on their experiences and observations of others. There are elderly people in almost perfect health and good overall physical condition, leading an active lifestyle, and young people who are barely living zombies.

We all can find extreme examples in our families or nearest surroundings, like a young cousin with obesity, terrible posture who is constantly exhausted and apart from being good at Fortnite, struggles to perform even basic real-life activities, and a 50-year-old uncle who runs marathons and is bursting with energy despite working a tough full-time job.

But this example confuses two things: time and energy — we can manage our bodies better to look and feel a certain way, but our bodies count time and get old, getting closer to death every second, no matter how great we feel.

When I was a teenager, I did most of the unhealthy things a teenager can do, including smoking and eating junk food daily, overusing alcohol, or neglecting sleep at the expense of gaming or partying. But then, at the age of 21, something changed with me and I became obsessive about my health and lifestyle.