Age in Motion No 1

7 May 2015

It has been said before: ‘Age is a number, youthfulness is a choice’. Yet, living in a youth-driven society, it is a challenge (and I believe it is a delightful one) to embrace ageing.  All around us is the vitality of youth and none of us can say we don’t feel their optimism, or witness its capacity to shake down life for all it is worth! The messages in most advertising campaigns shout, “Grab your youth! Explore all your possibilities! Make your mark! The world belongs to you!”

My aim with this blog is to find others who can help me to raise the bar on our thinking about ageing. Ageing should be, or at least I hope it can be, pleasant and happy. Or am I dreaming?  Due to the fact that nobody can really ‘grow younger’ (as many articles indicate) or ‘eat right for thicker hair’ (which is not really true), as well as other ‘truths’ being told to us by experts about ‘living longer and looking younger’ I have only met a few people who could honestly say (and mean it), that they like growing older.

I remember about ten years ago when Cher was on a Talk Show in LA, she openly admitted: ‘I HATE ageing.’ It made me ‘sit up straight’ and re-think the whole issue of growing older. I started to ask myself serious questions: “Why do people hate it? What about growing older is bad, what is the worst?” How will I really know when something in my body changes?”  I asked many questions and read loads of articles about ageing and the subject slowly but surely, especially in my subconscious, began to take shape.

In the past twenty years – and I have to be honest – this was so even when I was a child: much has been written about ‘Ageing Gracefully’.  I want to go deeper and beyond gracefully and include aspects, such as health, vitality, youthfulness, humour, vision, optimism and many more. The time is right for me! I have five grandchildren now and it feels kind of right to continue my study with more vigour and creative enquiries. (One of the pictures in my mind is to go ‘skinny-dipping’ with my grand-daughter! The picture is set on some beautiful Island and while the sun is going down).

So I have decided (at LAST) to blog regularly about ageing well, youthfully and wonderfully. My writing will be motivational. I will do research, participate in conversations and even initiate focus groups. My vision is to ‘run with this subject’, from head to toes and write about all the dimensions in our life, that I believe, are vital for healthy ageing.

You are SO welcome to join in! I will eventually and hopefully soon, start a Network, so that we can share more specifically! 

Before I say ‘cheers’ today, think about this: “What are you doing with your LIFE’s energy?”

 

Picture above taken just before my daughter and her family moved to England, five years ago. With me are Roxanne (the oldest and only grand-daughter), Seth right next to me and Erin.