Saturday morning I couldn’t decide if I needed a shower or not
before taking myself out to lunch on a dark, raining day. Dermatologists don’t
recommend daily showers for old people if you’re not doing stuff to get sweaty
and dirty. Our thinning skin apparently is chronically too dry which exposes us
to all kinds of nasty skin ailments, the least of which is wrinkles. I don’t
care about wrinkles but I’d like to avoid cracking skin and eczema, thank you
very much, so I listen to my doctor. I hadn’t been doing much but sitting at
the computer so I stuffed my iPod buds in my ears and made a decision to get
sweaty with music and exercise so I’d have a good reason to hit the shower.
It felt good to listen to my old 'power walking' playlist. In my world that meant it was time to strut around inside my house, arms swinging and knees
pumping high. I stop at certain places where I have something to hold on to to
do a few leg lifts, squats or old-people dance moves---anything to get my heart
rate up and my muscles working. My 'power walking' playlist includes: Stayin’ Alive, The 5th
of Beethoven, The William Tell Overture, Night Fever, Gangham Style, Hooked on Tchaikovsky and
All These Things That I’ve Done. As you might guess I don’t have any ‘50s music on
my iPod and I dread the day when I’m in a nursing home and the activity
director thinks she’s doing a good thing by flooding the place with Elvis, Pat
Boone and Bobby Darin. That’s what they do---match the music to the era in
which the majority of their residents came of age. Actually, I should have
ended that sentence with, “I dread the day when I’m in a nursing home.” Well, I’m not there yet and I’d better not forget it!
Exercise is supposed to be good for your mental health,
too, a perk that I could use right now. I haven’t been doing much since last
spring which is one of the reasons why I dug out my iPod and put it on the charger
a few days before resurrecting my old power walking routine. According to
HelpGuide.com exercise “promotes all kinds of changes in the brain, including
neural growth, reduced inflammation, and new activity patterns that promote
feelings of calm and well-being. It also releases endorphins, powerful
chemicals in your brain that energize your spirits and make you feel good.
Finally, exercise can also serve as a distraction, allowing you to find some
quiet time to break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that feed depression.”
I’ve always hated exercise but I’m willing to get out that big ugly gun to ward
off the winter blues that I’ve somehow managed to acquire in August.
As I do my power walking around my house the dog thinks I’m
the Pied Piper and there’s a good reason for that. I leave a trail of dog
treats as I move through the house so Levi will stay behind me instead of
getting in front of me the way he does when we do “doggie dancing.” (And why I
don’t play more music in the house is a mystery I need to solve. It does lift my spirits.) The only song Levi gets to hear is, Stand
by Me. I used to play it on my computer every night as a way of entertaining my
husband and exercising the dog with obedience commands disguised as dance
moves---leg weaves, circles, standing up on two legs, walking backward and forward. We’re not good at it
like you'd see in dog dancing competitions---I shouldn't even call what we do dancing---but my goal was never
perfection but rather to have fun and giving the dog five minutes of undivided attention. Since last winter we’d only been doing it three-four times a month and I
need to give that activity back to him more often, if only because he’s got a
more boring life than I do.
Do you believe that inspirational messages come into our lives
when we need them in a serendipitous manner or do you believe they’re always
out there like white noise, ignored until our minds and hearts are ready to
accept the lessons they teach? After I wrote the first draft of this post I was on Facebook where one of my friends had just posted a video of a
Chinese guy in his eighties. I scrapped the original ending so I could write about Deshun Wang, a man who took up doing an intense workout late in
life. He also walks the fashion catwalk with kids a quarter of his age---his gray hair
flowing down to his shoulders and looking full of life. His easy smile and kick-ass
attitude earned him the nickname of the ‘hottest grandpa’ and he became an instant
internet sensation.
He says in the video, “At 80 I still have something left in me. I still have dreams to achieve. Believe me, potential can be explored. When you think it’s too late, be careful you don’t let that be your excuse for giving up.” Now, that’s an inspirational message I truly needed to hear! I've spent my entire life working towards goals and dreams but since my husband died I’ve let my age limit my dreams. I don’t have enough time left to do such and such, I’ve told myself. What’s the point of trying? Watching one video, of course, can’t change the trajectory of anyone's life but Mr. Wang gives me mega much to think about. How about you? Do you let your age edit the potentials you could explore? ©
He says in the video, “At 80 I still have something left in me. I still have dreams to achieve. Believe me, potential can be explored. When you think it’s too late, be careful you don’t let that be your excuse for giving up.” Now, that’s an inspirational message I truly needed to hear! I've spent my entire life working towards goals and dreams but since my husband died I’ve let my age limit my dreams. I don’t have enough time left to do such and such, I’ve told myself. What’s the point of trying? Watching one video, of course, can’t change the trajectory of anyone's life but Mr. Wang gives me mega much to think about. How about you? Do you let your age edit the potentials you could explore? ©
