We Are No Longer Twenty Years Old and Invincible

When we are young, few of us know everything about the ways our life styles will affect us when we are older. We hear it all the time with people talking about how they are burning the candle at both ends and most of us would probably have to admit that we ourselves have done that on occasion. In our twenties and early thirties we almost feel like we are invincible. We are filled with energy and often find ourselves bragging to our friends or coworkers about how we can thrive off only four or five hours of sleep. The older we get however, the more we are forced to realized that we are not as invincible as we once thought we were. And then the forties strike and we need eight hours of sleep a night to get through the day without noticeable sagging around mid-afternoon. If we have children in our homes, their boundless energy alone is enough to sap ours. Even in our thirties if our kids are rambunctious enough, we can feel the sag of maturity closing in. Suddenly our twenties look really, really good. Many people in their early twenties, though, fail to recognize the affect all of their choices will make later in life. They drink and smoke as if it had no affect on their bodies. Some, we've even heard say, that they don't want to live for the next fifty years if they can't drink and smoke. Once they reach the age of fifty however, most people who did drink and smoke their whole adult lives wish they had never picked up a cigarette or taken that first drink. Regardless of what we might think at the age of twenty-one, our bodies are not invincible. What we put in our bodies, and what we do when we are young, does have an effect on us when we are older. For some who spent twenty years nursing a two pack a day cigarette habit that means lung cancer. Others who spent years hitting the bottle often find that they have liver cancer. Unfortunately, the bad habits we start early on in our life, before we have really had a chance to gain any wisdom, often carry on through the majority of our lives. We've heard it said before that habits are easy to make, but hard to break. Thankfully, even if our bad habits as teenagers lead to cancer as adults, it is not a death sentence. Scientists around the world have been working hard for many years to find a cure for cancer. Now even if someone is diagnosed with cancer they have a way to fight it, and many people are given a second chance. While doctors and scientists cannot guarantee to cure everyone's cancer, because there is still a lot about cancer they don't know, they can help patients have a fighting chance at beating cancer. Even though huge advancements have been made in medicine, and many people have been able to beat cancer, that certainly does not mean we should smoke and drink to our hearts content. In fact, as adults it is probably our job to encourage the younger generation to make wise choices since many are unable to see the long term effects of their decisions. So next time you get a chance to talk to your children or other teenagers in your life, try to pass along your wisdom. Who knows, that may be the one time they are actually listening!

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