“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

I have a confession to make. One that I’ve feared for months. To be completely honest, I’ve faced it for years, but I still don’t want to face the music. And I dare say, if you were in my position you’d probably feel the same.

So, I’ll say it now. I suffer from depression, and though I fight it the best I can, it often gets the best of me. But I’m not giving up. Nor am I ashamed for admitting my affliction. People talk openly and publicly about cancer all the time. Why don’t they do the same for depression or mental illness? Or is it a case of the last taboo?

What brought this on was a momentous event in my life. Last week I turned 80. That should have made me deeply happy. But it didn’t. Instead, it gave me a dirty bucket of mixed feelings that shook me to my core. To be sure, some of my feelings were contentment – if not happiness – and I’m grateful for that.

As for the rest of the bucket’s contents the less said the better. What a shame! If you can’t be happy on your 80th birthday when can you?

There’s a lot I could say about becoming an octogenarian. Some of it is even good.

You don’t have to get up early anymore unless you want to. The kids have grown up and flown the coop leaving you more time to travel to exotic locales or to read best sellers that you never got around to when you were young. Or take up pickle-ball which so many seniors are doing. The list is endless, but it’s mostly predicated on one thing – your state of health.

Without good health, you’ve got to scratch many of the activities on the foregoing list and that could lead to a trip down the rabbit hole where happiness and good health are rare commodities and life becomes a living hell as it did for Alice in Wonderland.

So is there anything you can do now to make up for what you didn’t do before? Luckily there is and it doesn’t cost a dime. Exercise, the greatest wonder drug of them all and available to everyone regardless of their race, colour or ethnicity. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live,” says Jim Rohn, a legendary influencer in the personal development industry

“Exercise is the most potent and underrated anti-depressant,” says best-selling health writer Bill Phillips. Most of all, exercise is a natural physical activity that doesn’t rely on artificial pills or chemicals. Instead, exercise releases endorphins, serotonin and dopamine which are brain chemicals that improve mood and create feelings of well-being and self-esteem. Or we can do what we want to do and damn the consequences.

The choice is ours. Especially if you’re a senior.

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who can often be seen walking the 85 steps near Laurie Middle School.

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