I am in awe of my friends who now officially qualify as "older" women. And I am proud of them too.
I belong to two groups of women who exercise together. One is a walking group at the YWCA, which we have named "Still Walking". We participated in a walking class for people with mobility issues, and some of us decided to keep walking together when the class ended. One day, my friend Kim, said "Since I turned 70....." I was flabbergasted. She is a tiny women, who in no way looks to be 70 years old, and who can cover 20 laps on the indoor track in nothing flat. I looked at the other women in the groups and realized that, in addition to Kim, two of us are nearing 74, and two of us are in their 80s. We were most of the older people in the group, and here we were, still walking.**
My second group is a live Zoom yoga class that began during the pandemic so that class members in Swansboro could continue meeting with their beyond wonderful yoga teacher. She teaches Gentle Yoga three times per week (don't kid yourself that this is easy does it - it's challenging in a very supportive way), and I am going to guess that the average age in the class is around 70. Some of these women also walk up to 4-5 miles a day.
Would you call these women old? Well, go ahead, if you must, but their lives and their activities would strongly argue the point. I call them awesome!
I would also call them determined. Determined to care for their bodies and health in ways that support happy, healthy, active living. BTW, we should be doing this all along, as we all know, but when you get older it's use it or lose it very quickly.
My friends have decided not to accept the cliche' picture of old people. I think it's an issue of focusing on what we can do, rather than what we can't. I have heard so many people say, "I don't feel any older in my mind." Yeah, it's the body that can let us down as we age, but awesome women refuse the mindset that aging means giving up. They are fighters.
So they get up early, put on those walking shoes, or don their yoga pants, and head out the door or onto the floor.
AND.... they take their minds out for a walk too. It's a time of life for trying and learning new things and stretching yourself to do it. I don't know a single one of them who sits down in an electric recliner and gives up on her life.
Are there problems, aches and pains, changes that challenge us, yes, of course, but awesome women meet them head on. Head on means that we share with each other, get and give support, and adapt. I can safely say that there are some heroes in both groups.
Dylan Thomas wrote:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
You bet your life. I know some kick-ass women, and I am so proud. They inspire me every day.I want to be just like them when I grow up.
** Special mention here for a couple in the class who were 92 and 94. Fred could outwalk almost anyone in the group, and complained loudly that he just couldn't walk as fast since he had a hamstring injury last year! Lelah, started slowly, but steadily increased her time and laps over the course of the class. They are both nothing short of remarkable.
