you look GREAT for 61

When my mother in law passed away, it was revealed that she was actually two years older than anyone knew.  Genealogy was her passion and her life’s work, so when she said or wrote down in perfect, clear penmanship, a date, we all believed it.  Somewhere in her time line, she told people a different year than she was actually born.  She stuck with it, never wavering.  Everyone believed her birth day.   She followed a rather unhealthy lifestyle, so “borrowing” a couple of years to the good, I guess, made her feel young.

Tomorrow, our dog Sweet Liberty Wilson, turns 63 years old.  She is feisty, tail wags all the time, she steals dish towels, rolls around in the grass, chases chickens in the backyard, gives out oodles of kisses and is a very graceful swimmer.  You would never guess she is 63.  When out for a walk, inevitably because of her “blond” muzzle, the question we are always asked, how old is she?  Our answer:  This is Libby and she is 9 years old, she is very gentle, yes you may pat her.

I don’t know if it is because he always running up stairs, always jumping the last couple stairs down, always being the first to offer to lift or tote or open a door, juicing, food choices, singing in the shower and the car and while mowing the lawn, or reading a book or two a week…… Mr. Right is continually confused with someone much younger.  He lives a very healthy, clean lifestyle.  People forget that he has already retired once, has “kids” who are around the thirty year mark, has two of the most wonderful grandgirlies in the land and has moved so many times, that alone would give most people a bit of gray hair and tired muscles.  Sometimes, when he props his legs up to rest in the evening, people would be surprised to know that he has run thousands, yes literally, thousands of miles.  He has marched hundreds of miles.  He has hiked, biked and walked so many golf courses,  it sometimes makes me tired to remember the miles he has put on a rebuilt leg.  For a man with a desk job, it is surprising that he, on average,  walks about four miles a day .  Sure he goes with us on a short walk some evenings and always on the weekends, he just puts in a lot of miles walking around the office, working. 

The media seems to be concerned with age, more specifically, how young we look .  How we look, how many laugh lines, gray hair (Bless the person who invented colorful hair products, AMEN) and polka dots on our hands (some call them age or liver spots, doesn’t polka dots sound happier?).  I am utmost concerned with health on the inside first, then don’t kid yourself, I bike and walk, lift weights, breathe with my yoga, use stretch bands and a foam piece for balance and get fresh air to look healthy and act healthy on the outside too.  I like the rosy glow of my cheeks after a walk.  I like to get all sweaty doing yard work and cleaning the chicken palace once a week.  I like to be able to gracefully get out of a chair or car and walk with a sense of balance and confidence. I like being able to wear high heels once in a while and not wobble like a four-year old in her mother’s heels.   I like moving forward with a sense of strength and purpose.  Yes, I enjoy keeping my brain healthy and reading, researching and learning daily.  I just don’t want to act old, tired, slow, frail, poor posture, down in the dumps unhealthy.

It is a continual quest for us to keep health our watchword.  Just this past weekend, we welcomed a new water filter and a new Himalayan Salt Lamp into our home.  We walked and biked and did yard work and laughed and drank juice and smoothies and shared a delicious vegan sandwich for a quick-lunch date. We are trying to take Sunday off.  A day of real rest.  We are not good at it.  We are learning and trying.  There is scientific data to suggest that taking one day a week off from exercise and vitamins and supplements actually promotes faster healing.  So as much as I fuss about taking all sorts of vitamins and supplements at different times throughout the day, I have come to take some sort of comfort from taking them to “get well”.  Taking a day completely off is a leap of faith for us.   It is balance.  It is wise and that one-act alone has common sense written all over it.

There is (draw out the word is when you are reading this)   another way of thinking.  While reading some comments from a friend’s blog regarding growing old gracefully, http://katherinesdaughter.com/2013/08/09/the-fountain-of-youth/  (Wonderful food for thought in her writings, well worth your time.)  I came across this gem.  It made me laugh (out loud), it made me smile, it made sense,  it made me do the happy dance.  No offense towards the memory of my mother in law, I like this lady’s way of thinking SO much better.

“A friend I was just chatting with said her grandmother used to tell people that she was 10 year older than she really was, so they would compliment her on how great she looked! Ha! Smart lady!”

I am headed off to ride four miles on my bike.  Pretty good for a 61-year-old.  haha

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!  LIVE the life you’ve imagined.”  Thoreau