Anyone else ever struggle with staying focused/motivated

jlcustomz;n80718 said:
Didn't expect to see anyone saying they didn't have a problem trying to work extra while getting older. Other work after work does have to be some different, at least under different conditions to stand it.

as you get older, there is something to be said for trying to eat a little better & do at least a small amount of actual exercise even if its just a few stretching excercises. But damn if that ain't harder than real work itself.
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I did exactly that, I started a decorative concrete business and have also been doing that for 13yrs after hours and that took the edge off and helped break up the monotony of the daily 8-5 rush but that too turns into a job after a while with a differant set of stresses.

Then muscles started to tighten and Doc. said I should do some exercises and stretch mabey get back into martial arts, I said I would but stretching hurts, as I was on a traction machine getting my back pulled.....
 
Every day is a struggle. The days are longer and the work gets harder . My days are numbered now til i hang up my guns .
 
i'll be 64 in a few days,an when i started doing this part time i could restore a camaro in 6 months working a full time job.now that i have retired it takes me a full year to do a car.just don't understand it.
 
Nice to know I'm not alone. I wish I had the motor/drive/will that my Dad had. I'll share this, maybe some of you will find it interesting. My Father lived about three different lives in his lifetime. Born in Kansas to a German and Scottish Immigrant parents, he grew up farming until his father was gored by a Bull and died when he was 16 (my dad). Today they would have stiched him up and given him blood transfusions and he'd be home the next day, but not in 1923. He then moved to Lawrence Kansas where he developed an interest in singing and the Opera, He studied under one of the great baritones of his day Lawrence Tibbett. Then he went to New York and continued his Opera career until he got an infection and it took enough off the edge of his voice that Opera was no longer possible. (These were the days before penicillin and other antibiotics) He the took up acting and landed a role in the original production of Oklahoma as the villain Judd. He also had a few movie roles in the late 40's early 50's but unfortunately he also had a drinking problem that ultimately cost him his career in Show Business. He then took up Bodywork in SoCal. Did that for many years until in the mid1960's he started working with a Christian Literacy organization. In 1968 he met my Mom. He was 61 she was 24! I was born when he was 65. They were basically broke and living in Houston when I was a child. My Father at 68 years old got a job with Brown and Root Construction in Houston as a boilermaker building oil refineries in the Houston area.. He lied and told them he was 54. He was so happy to have that job and worked all the overtime he could. 80+ hours a week from 1975 until 1981. Mind you this is in the brutal South Texas heat and humidity climbing 100 foot towers and working in confined spaces for 12-16 hours a day 6 days a week from the time he was 68 until he was 74 years old!!! And when he left, management was begging him not too as he was one of the most productive guys that crew had. As a grown man now I think about this and find it so incredible. He wasn't the picture of health, He hurt every day. I can remember him cramping up at night and could hear him in pain. He had lead issues from his days as a Bodyman, but he got up every morning at 4:30 and went into work. Faithfully and almost never took a day off with the exception of a week of vacation time in the summer when we would take a trip. When he quit we moved to Massachusetts where he proceeded to completely renovate a home that belonged to my Mom's side of the family. He worked constantly on the house, had a huge garden each Summer and the only heat we used was wood (which he and I cut). Finally at 80 he started to slow down some but still did more at 85 than most guys would do at 65. He lived to be almost 94 (I was 28 when he passed and my Sister was 22!!) Wish he was still here.

Here's pic of him in his Broadway days :) His stage name was Bruce Hamilton MN152994.jpg
 
Wow, what an inspiration. Sounds like he was definitely motivated and never lost it till the end!
 
Damn Chris, that's a lot to try & live up to. And just think;;; you were supposed to be a retirement present.:confused:
​Datec, I don't do any more exercise that I have to, but since I was 40 the low back pinching in a pretty much disabling way started & a chiropractor helped. A lot of what helps is certain stretches that help keep my low back from getting that way. Never went to a real doctor for my back.
Then a few years ago, started getting bad tendon pains between shoulders & elbow & between elbow & wrist, which eventually creeped into elbows. Finally met a customer (retired machinist) that showed me what would help. Take a small dumbbell 2, 5 or 10 pounds , hold arm out upright & lift up & down , 10 times or whatever. Then turn arm over & curl upwards. Then with arm straight out, twist left & right. A lot of weight isn't important here, the motion helps loosen stuff up & not hurt as much.
I can't make myself do all this stuff often enough every day, but the further I get away from doing these things, the worse off I am. Had a really bad back relapse in October after overdoing it too much every day, which took me till this year to get back to doing more than day job. Sooooo, A few minutes a day to avoid that makes sense.
Feel a little less manly sitting here talking about this stuff on the internet, but had I got a little better info years earlier on how to take better care of myself, I'd be a little better off now & would be further along on projects.
 
Since ive been doing back stretches daily (2 years now) I haven't had mine go out. I have a herniated disc, pinched sciatic for 10 years now that likes to act up. I got a book by dr McKenzie, treat your own back. It definitely is worth the 5 minutes every morning. I guess I don't so much feel like Im losing my focus or motivation its just changing. I'm enjoying what I've worked to achieve more. I have what I want & want what I have.
 
87max;n80740 said:
Since ive been doing back stretches daily (2 years now) I haven't had mine go out. I have a herniated disc, pinched sciatic for 10 years now that likes to act up. I got a book by dr McKenzie, treat your own back. It definitely is worth the 5 minutes every morning. I guess I don't so much feel like Im losing my focus or motivation its just changing. I'm enjoying what I've worked to achieve more. I have what I want & want what I have.
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That is what my back was doing long story as to how I first did it but when I did that stupid move the next day I thought I pulled a muscle in my ass hurt so bad I couldn't sit let it go a week until my toes started to tingle and pain shot down my leg. It took awhile for the Doc to get it threw to me that it was my back not my butt.

I'll have to get that book, thanks.

As far as not feeling manly talking about this stuff what we do is hard on our body's and it's good to get too hear what others have done to ease the discomfort associated with the repetitive motion we do on a daily basis. So I'm good with it.
 
Don't be getting Shine in trouble Outlaw. If the government is watching, with names like shine & outlaw, & pictures of 4'long sword blades on the side of my el camino, they may mistake us for some super secret group.:mad::mad:

Seriously though, I was trying the teeter thing when my back fist did the low pinching thing years ago. Was helping, then pinched so bad once coming back up that I never tried it again, though I know I should while I am ok to stay that way.

When my low back first got to the point of knowing it's not just muscle pain was back when the economy was slowed & winter time. I'd be stuck at home a day with no work, sit around, & then have to do something stupidly heavy the next day. That being said, regularity is important, which is why some people such as Chris's dad that never stop can go for so long.. Sitting slouched when it's starting to get bad will make it worse fast .Hard not to do when ya tired.

Just to mention, last chiropractor visit, he showed me a different stretch. Laying on your back, pull one leg to your chest with knee folded . Then pull your foot up , bending the lower leg sideways while pushing down on your knee. Besides being easier on the back when in bad pain, twisting the lower leg up helps to loosen up stuff that causes that running down the leg pain.

Been getting some of those authritis calcium deposit knots [I guess you could call it] in some of my lower finger joints. An older lady that was a health nut a few years ago showed me to rub them hard &bend the joints tighter with your other hand. After a few days I got increased range motion, less pain, & the knots got smaller. Of course this is one of those things I don't do often enough.

I know we all got similar pains, so knowledge is power. Now to get off my ass & go do something;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
 
I use too get really sore after a lot of block sanding and a friend talked me into trying syntha 6 protein powder and it cut my soreness in half. I also take glucosamine, chondrin, and MSM and it helps my achey joints. Stuff will probably kill me but I had to quite drinking a few years ago So I can't use beer to cure my normal aches and pains.
 
Went to the Doc thinking I had lung cancer on the 20th of last month and happy to say it was just some stuck discs in my upper back, I think I'll do like Shine does and get a lung xray every year from now on. The shots of my lungs looked clear this time around. A friend of mine wasn't so lucky, he went in on the 19th and found he has Cancer. They are working on a treatment plan but it is taking weeks and he's in a lot of pain. Smoking, painting cars, being around hazardous chemicals...it's eventually going to catch up. I smoked for over 20 years, now it's time to hang up the chewing tobacco.
 
For some reason when you feel bad for a while the first think you think of is cancer. I've been painting and doing hvac work for about 18 years and have always had asthma. I recently had the doctor go in and look in my lungs because I was having trouble and the time waiting was horrible cause for some reason I worry about that kind of stuff. It's one of the best feelings in the world when the doc says everything's fine vs you have cancer.
 
i started getting ex rays every other and full physicals at about 25 because of what i do . every year without fail. when they found my tumor it was barely detectable . only 1.3 cm . i had the left upper lobe removed . there was no sign of cancer any where else in the lung or lymph nodes. i asked the doc if he could put it back in since it was clear. thought i was being funny . he said sure i'll just cut you back open . doc 1 shine 0 . if i had done nothing i would likely be dead today . good chance it will reappear somewhere else but maybe not. i stay on top of it. i'm gonna die someday but i aint gonna die of stupid. i have an 11 year old godson i'm raising so i need a few more years.
dont be stupid or macho . get a simple ex ray and yes get a good butt probe . believe me the drugs are so good you wont even remember the ride home. early detection is your only hope of beating this shit. i lost my entire family to it because they continued smoking and waited too late to see a doc .
 
curt b;n80796 said:
I use too get really sore after a lot of block sanding and a friend talked me into trying syntha 6 protein powder and it cut my soreness in half. I also take glucosamine, chondrin, and MSM and it helps my achey joints. Stuff will probably kill me but I had to quite drinking a few years ago So I can't use beer to cure my normal aches and pains.
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Wow, we give glucosamine to our dogs for joint issues, I guess it hasn't occurred to me that I could be doing something for my own aches and pains, lol!

I feel confident in thinking that respiratory issues is what will kill me. I mentioned last night to my wife that I'd like to invest in a fresh air breathing system because if my iso concerns. She didn't know such a thing existed, now she's after me to buy one. I guess I should.
 
I use to think I was unstoppable and if someone had told me to wear a respirator I probably would have thrown it at them. I had acute liver failer 4 years ago and come to find out I was stoppable, you only have one body so it's best to try and take care of it. My lab is 14 and if it wasn't for glucosamine I'd still be toting him up the steps.
 
I take glucosemean and viagra. Last time I had to go to the Doc was for an erection that lasted more than four hours.
 
That's funny, I guess that's considered a good problem to have! I always thought viagra was just fix a flat in a can!
 
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