At 60, These Are Things I No Longer Have The Energy To Pretend I Enjoy

If you have ever heard old country folk exclaim, "It feels like my get up and go has got up and went," then you probably already know what studies have suggested: Aging can be exhausting. Getting winded walking up an incline, or finally accepting that your peak competitive years have long since passed, are not listed as the perks of growing older.

However, a perk of aging into our 60s and 70s is that you've gained the self-awareness to know when enough is enough. Another perk is being able to apply your life wisdom to make the necessary adjustments. You don't have to stop doing the things you love, but you might have to adjust how you do them.

At 60, these are the things I no longer have the energy to pretend I enjoy:

1. I no longer enjoy pulling all-nighters and powering through the next day

GBJSTOCK via Shutterstock

I remember how much I loved staying up all night in my younger years, whether it was to talk with friends or stare at the stars from my parents' porch. My capacity to keep going, even on little sleep, sometimes no sleep at all, made me think I'd always be like that and be able to stay up and go to work and run around as if I didn't even need rest.

Then we get to the age of 60, if not younger. Time catches up with us, and not getting a solid 7 to 9 hours per night becomes a dull agony. You get brain fog that slows you down. You feel terrible and are unable to keep up with your tasks and chores. You might turn crabby, get a headache, and suffer many more wonderful things like that.

Doctors are not kidding: Getting enough sleep and enough uninterrupted sleep is a requirement after age 60. Some would argue this applies even sooner than that, and I couldn't disagree. Research has shown that aging can alter sleep patterns in favor of earlier bedtimes and shorter amounts of time sleeping, which might increase the need for naps. 

These changes don't happen abruptly in old age, but are a progression of changes. Weakening circadian rhythms and variable hormone levels of aging impact sleep and are often linked to medical or lifestyle factors rather than the aging process alone.

The only thing that would keep me awake all night now is an emergency. Otherwise, I'm diligent about getting my nightly eight hours, lest I face the cranky, foggy, painful consequences. Oh, how times have changed.

RELATED: You’re Apparently Not A Real Adult Until You Can Handle This One Responsibility, Says Survey

2. I no longer enjoy contorting myself into a pretzel in the name of fitness

arnaldo moreno via Shutterstock

I can't stretch my legs every which way anymore, which changes the way I do a lot of things. Gone is the yoga-toned flexibility of my younger years. Now I'm switching to Tai Chi-walking for older women. A study of aging and flexibility explored how low-impact exercise can be beneficial for mobility, but some flexibility exercises might lose their usefulness the older we get. I'm actually okay with it, perhaps because I've finally gotten serious about working out and watching what I eat. 

Some days, I watch cookies go into my mouth instead of working out, but we all adjust to aging in our own ways. The tiring part is figuring out new ways to do things I love without hurting or tiring myself out quickly.

Now, intimacy of all kinds requires a lot of creative handling. Your partner's body has likely changed along with your own, making it a requirement to communicate what works like new and what works like we're old. Creativity and kindness are beautiful. And, yeah, I miss being able to pretzel without effort.

RELATED: Experts In Their 50s And 60s Say This One Thing Helps Most When Stress Feels Like Too Much

Dr. Gloria Brame, Ph.D., is a board-certified therapist who focuses on helping adults overcome both functional and emotional problems from a progressive perspective.