beaugeste's blog

As many of you, the Covid Pandemic stopped my wrestling. Two sweaty men, chest to chest, breathing hard and inches from one another just did not seem to be the right thing to do. A contagious disease running rampant, no vaccine available, and seemingly healthy people dying. So at 68, I took a three year break. At my age, this Covid wrestling hiatus could have been my retirement.

Fortunately, I am a more glass is half full guy and said why not, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" . See what you can still do, at 71. Not that I was a good wrestler at 68.

I got back on the horse, so to speak, and had my first match with someone I never wrestled before. While I have lost some muscle mass and strength think mostly due to aging and not inactivity; I did better than I would have thought against a guy 5 years younger and at least 20 pounds heavier.

For me it is less about the match. It is about getting a bit of exercise, maybe practicing holds, and the man to man contact. I may not "win", but if I did well holding my own, it helps me both mentally and physically.

Getting back into wrestling was a good decision for me. Knowing you can still do something that you thought you could no longer do, is a big ego booster. I welcome any ego booster I can get.

Aging was so much fun when we are young. So many new life's experiences and choices were offered to us in our teens and twenties. Now in our 60's or older, aging is not as much fun. Many of the pleasures life gave us are being taken away, or no longer possible. However, be careful. Sometimes we prematurely take these pleasures away from ourselves. Think it is due to fear. In fact we still may be able to do a lot of what we did, albeit more slowly or modified. Be careful to avoid injury, choose who you wrestle wisely, but try to see what you can still do, rather than saying that you can't or shouldn't.

Good luck in your aging process.