Are you aging gracefully?

March 12th, 2012 by admin

“There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you.” ~carol Matthau, O Magazine ~

When I was about 30 years old I decided to quit smoking. All went well, except I gained almost 40 pounds. So there I am sitting at my desk with my Buddha belly and looking like Bluto in the Popeye cartoons.

Well I figured I had two choices, buy a new wardrobe or lose the weight. I joined the YMCA. I was there every morning at 6am when the Y opened.. A couple of days after I started I met a gentleman who had been a professional prize fighter. He was 67 at the time, so had long retired from the ring.

My step-father had been a professional prize fighter also and had tried to teach me how to fight. I thought I had a little skill but by no means enough to become a professional. This gentleman, whose name was George, volunteered to help me with my quest and teach me a little more of the art of fisticuffs. We began working out together every morning.

I will never forget that first morning. I knew that I was no where near as good as George but figured that at his age he must have slowed down quite a bit. I was fine for the first 2 or 3 rounds. I was ducking and weaving, mostly backpedaling to stay out of his reach.. Up to that point I had been the ultimate couch potato so it didn’t take long for me to run out of steam.

It wasn’t the skill that did me in it was endurance, I was ready to fall on my face and George was hardly breaking a sweat.. My plan wasn’t working and so each morning I had something to look forward to, being used to wipe up the floor.

Can you imagine the humiliation? At the age of 30, being beaten every morning by a 67 year old man. I wanted to quit after each session but kept telling myself that one day I would win.

We worked out for six months and I lost the weight I wanted to lose and was in the best shape of my life. I never did beat him but I had started holding my own. It was truly a blessing because not only did I accomplish my goal but I learned a couple of other lessons.

The greatest lesson was that because we age we don’t have to become sick and broken down. This lesson was re-enforced years later when a man named George Forman, a former world heavyweight boxer decided to come out of retirement and fight for the Championship again. He was ridiculed and laughed at for his decision. He was called an old man because he was over 40 years old at the time. Not only did he hold his own in the fight, he won. Proving that you are limited by age only as much as you think you are.

I tell this story to pass on the important message I learned from my experience. You are as old as you allow yourself to be. It was after my experience with George that I promised myself that when I got to be his age I would be in as good a shape as he was.

I also learned that when reaching for a goal don’t give up when the going gets tough, keep your eyes on the prize and your reward will be worth everything you had to go through. Follow your dream with joy and persistence.

TODAY’S TIP: Keep your eye on the prize and not on the effort and energy it takes to get there.

How young will you be at 67?