My oldest son is 6’3″.  He is all legs and when I walk with him in Chicago, where he lives, I am always behind him.  I actually have to start skipping to catch up.  And one day it hit me that I used to be the one who walked faster than everyone else.  He inherited his long legs from me and I used to walk with purpose and at a good clip.  Well, I don’t like being The slow poke.   I have slowed down a little and I don’t like it one bit.  While I embrace my age, I don’t want to be the slowest person in the bunch: that makes me feel old.  So, I am purposefully changing that slow walk.  Slow is not who I am.

Some of My Friends are Slowing Down

I have friends who seem to have given up.  They are kind of coasting through life:  not old enough to sit at home and watch reruns of The Price is Right and not working full time any longer.  They are moving at a slower pace and it feels as though they are not taking advantage of this great time in our lives.  This is the time when we are still able to do most things physically and we have the time to do them.  We have the ability to think clearly, for the most part, and we have lives that we might have envied several years ago.  

So I do not get the mindset of settling in for the next thirty years.  I am filled with anxiety over not having enough time to do everything that I want to do and that thought keeps me awake in the middle of the night sometimes.  I know it is crazy I am so anxious to get going on new projects and new opportunities that I honestly can’t sleep.

Be Active While You Can

I was talking with one of my doctors one day not long ago and he was getting ready to have some back surgery.  He told me that he and his wife are physically active and that he wants to get his back repaired so he can still do most of the things he loves before his age prevents him from doing it.  I couldn’t agree more.  With no knowledge of what tomorrow will bring you have to do the things you love now, not coast through one-third of your life.  Think about that, one third of your life might be ahead of you.  When you hear that stat I hope it gets you motivated to get busy.  Be active, volunteer in your community, ride your bike: whatever it is that gets you excited.

And by all means, do not act your age.  Act the age you feel inside.  Act the age of a woman who has so much life left in her that she can’t take time to play solitaire.  You will be amazed at how much fun you can have when you fill your day with activities that you love.  Or go back to work doing something that you always wished you could do.  Or, retire and go to Europe, just as you had always planned.  Keep yourself busy and full of life and others will start to see you as the age you feel as well.  They will know you as a person who brings something interesting to the table rather than someone who sits on the sidelines waiting for the game to start.  Be the game!

Tell me what you are doing to  not act your age.  I can’t wait to hear from you.