Article September 7, 2015 Issue

Freedom from age limits

Martin Vesely

When I was a member of the track and field team in high school, I competed in the shot put event. People who don’t know much about the shot put tend to have an image of some big guys throwing around an iron ball. But there’s a tremendous amount of grace, coordination, and strength involved in the shot put, and I’m seeing more and more that true strength and ability are spiritual and come from God, so they can never be lost with age or circumstances.

Recently my interest in the shot put has been rekindled, and once again I’m practicing throwing a ten-pound iron ball with the goal to eventually compete in the USA Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships. At these masters competitions there are no age limits. You see people in their ninth decade running track and throwing the shot put. Records are constantly being broken, giving evidence, in some degree, of the limitless nature of true being, and that limitation is nothing more than a product of human belief.

But the general belief about aging—the limitations and inevitable decline associated with it—can present itself in “in your face” ways that catch us off guard, or that settle in thought over a period of time. I remember that when I mentioned my plan to compete to a friend, she said, “At your advanced age, are you sure this is good for your shoulder?” I have to tell you that if I had been looking for any kind of encouragement whatsoever, it certainly was not found in that conversation!

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