Tag: Guest Bloggers

 

What happens when the results of your exercise program are not what you had expected or hoped for?

It’s been two months. As I stated in an earlier post, I began taking two-mile walks in the park down the street from my house. And then it snowed. And it got cold; incredibly, horribly cold. I dug out the Wii Fit and dusted it off. I was determined not to miss a day. Of course I DID miss a few days, but have been more dedicated than not. I’ve missed a day here or there, but for the most part I have logged at least a half hour but most often an hour per day. I start with the yoga poses, work through the strength exercises and then hit a half hour of aerobics, followed by a few of the balance games. I have gotten lots of perfect scores, bested my old scores and racked up 40 hours of activity.

The result is that I have gained five pounds and now have tendonitis in my ankle and wrist. I’m sure the wrist pain is from too many downward dog-type moves, so I have modified them and wear a wrist splint.

It would be pretty easy to throw in the towel at this point. But I refuse. Not that I am a glutton for punishment and certainly not that I am one of those folks who lives for the chance to exercise. It would be easy to quit, and considering the evidence it would seem logical. But there are subtle signs I’ve noticed that make me want to keep going. Last night I stooped down to poke the fire and was able to do a nice squat, hold it while stabbing at the burning logs, and then quite easily rise back to standing. I have been sleeping through the night most nights, and feel more rested in the morning. Even though there have been two deaths in the family and we have gone through the big holiday season, I have not had issues with my anxiety. I didn’t freak out while stuck on the turnpike for 4 hours. To me, that in itself is huge.

I will say that I had expected to drop a few pounds, or at least not gain. That was my big goal and it is extremely disheartening not to have achieved it considering all of the hard work I’ve put in. But when I look at the big picture, I have found my motivation to continue. As we age, things like stooping and lifting tend to get harder, not easier. My inner voice tells me that I will thank myself some day, even if I thank myself wearing a larger size than I had envisioned.

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We woke up in Philadelphia the morning after Christmas to a light snowfall. It was lovely. By the time we were finished with our lunch at a nearby diner, the sky was crystal clear, cerulean blue and the sun was shining brightly.

After getting onto The Pennsylvania Turnpike, I figured that even taking into consideration the stop we had to make along the way, we would be home in about an hour and a half. And then I noticed the cars that were sitting at a standstill in front of me. I stopped, wondering what must have happened.

I guess it would be easy, almost expected in fact, to lose patience after four long hours of crawling along at speeds that never exceeded 5MPH. I was relieved to finally make it to the exit that led us to a detour of the closed down stretch of highway. I will admit that I was exhausted and extremely happy when we finally got to the open road. But I felt extremely fortunate even while stuck in that stand still parking lot of a traffic mess. I knew the reason for the logjam must be one heck of an accident.

When we got home -almost 7 hours later than my initial prediction-and turned on the news, we saw the photos that had been taken earlier in the day. There were 35 cars, tractor-trailers and SUVs jutting at odd angles on the roadway. The snow had been heavier in that area earlier that morning, and the cars had been involved in a chain reaction collision as they slid on the icy roads and into one another. The people involved in the collision said they, too, felt lucky. In spite of the wreckage, there had been no fatalities and relatively few injuries.

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My husband’s birthday fell on a rainy Friday. We thought it would be fun to catch a matinee of ‘Last Vegas’, which is a tame, older men version of ‘The Hangover’.  While it certainly won’t be in the running come awards season, it was funny and it was perfect for a man out celebrating his 62^nd. I did, however, find something about the movie rather striking.

Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas and Kevin Kline rang in age from 76 to 66 years old. Freeman, DeNiro and Kline are all seen looking pretty much the way men of their age would really look; a bit of a belly, glasses on some, and a hearing aid worn by Kline. All have gray or salt and pepper hair. The exception was Douglas’s character, with his super whitened teeth, orange fake tan and hair that was a running joke throughout the movie. His upcoming marriage to a 32-year-old woman was the basis for the plot line. The three men who looked their age made jokes about his trying to stay young.

And then there were the women, played by the lovely Mary Steenburgen, who is 60, and Joanna Gleason, who is 63. These women are very thin and in incredible shape. Both have long, beautiful chocolate brown hair.

I wondered. Why was the male character, who dyed his hair and dressed in something other than dad jeans, crazy plaid jackets or a British driving cap, made into the joke? Why was it seen as “sexy” for the women and “desperate” for the man? Why wasn’t the lady the men were going gaga over being played by, say, Kathy Bates? What about the stunning Dame Judi Dench? Or Bette Midler? Beautiful women, those three ladies, and in the right age range as well.

When we came home, we sat by the fire and watched a movie on TV. Which just happened to star the pudgy, weathered Jack Nicholson. Opposite him, the stunning and very thin Diane Keaton, who seems to get more beautiful with each passing year.

How wonderful that there are good movies starring incredibly talented older actors. But maybe we still have a long way to go. Maybe when the ladies with silver in their hair and a few extra ounces on their hips are the ones who are receiving the appreciative glances from the male characters, maybe then we can say we’ve reached a level of equality between men and woman.

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I’ve found that the greatest joy in life isn’t trying to fulfill my expectations. The greatest joy has been appreciating people and things as they are.

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The disagreements in America right now are nothing new.  John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were one another’s nemesis before becoming friends in later years. Political cartoons offered scathing critiques of politicians even in the early years of our nation.

In reflecting on those times and observing the political climate of today, I began to wonder: When someone is opposed to a person or their ideals, do they want to be proven right in their views or do they somehow want to be pleasantly surprised to discover they had misjudged? Is it really a sweet victory to be awarded the right to say, “I told you so!” even if that means the country suffers?

Can we somehow change our need to be right and apply that to more personal relationships? Is it better to be proven right and watch the terrible consequences unfold or to find out that we were wrong, and what or who we feared was really not so bad after all?

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