Most years in the past I have not typically made New Years resolutions because I have never been able to keep them.  Now it my waning years my New Years resolution is always the same, not to physically or mentally do worst that the previous year.  But of course these are not realistic expectations as my body progressively get older and less able to repair the normal ware and tear of the former year.

Life is a constant battle of damage and repair.  When the body is young it is able to fully recuperate from the daily death of cells that have reached the end of their life cycle.  When the body is injured it is able to generate the needed cells the replace damaged tissues.  But at the body ages it is less able to replace cells that die and when injured or traumatized the older you are the less able the body is to fully recover.  After a certain age the body is unable to replace many of the dead cells and recover from injury.  Loss muscle is replaced by fat.  Bone become more brittle and less able to absorb calcium to maintain its strength.  Skin becomes less elastic and thinner and wrinkled.  An other organs suffer similar fates.

Science still does not fully understand the mechanisms of aging but there seems to be a genetic factor that fundamentally seem to make the body slowly stop repairing itself and allow mutated gene expressions to occur with greater frequency.

There are a limited number of options open to us seniors to slow this process down and for the few rare individuals the process is slower than for the general population.  However I do not consider myself part of that exclusive club of individuals that seem to live quality lives well beyond their 80’s.  For me Quality of Life means everything.  It is important to be mobile and to be able to think complete thoughts and express them.  Otherwise what it the point of living.