Women Just Like Us

I turned another year older this week.  Yahoo! Firmly planted in my seventh decade and feeling good (most of the time)! In that vein, I'd like to point out several women, who in their retirement years decided to take up a sport. I agree, this isn't that unusual, as not only do we have more time but time for new interests, and these women became extraordinary in their pursuits.

Bobbe Greenberg, at age 57, entered a mini triathlon at her gym. It consisted of a 10 minute pool swim, a 20 minute stationary bike ride and a 15 minute treadmill run. Only problem, Bobbe did not know how to swim. She took a weekend swim course and has never looked back.

Bobbe's debut outdoor triathlon resulted in a first place medal. She was 20 years older than the second-place winner. She's been hooked ever since. She has entered 14 full triathlon competitions and has won/qualified 9 times! In October of 2019, Bobbe won her second Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, at 73 years of age. This entails a 2.4 mile swim in choppy ocean waters, a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon (26.2 mile run). Simply amazing.

At 59 years old, Mimi Secor was a busy nurse practitioner thinking about going back to graduate school, when her daughter, a health coach told her she was not a healthy role model for her patients and was being a hypocrite. That stunned her into allowing her daughter to develop a plan to begin weight lifting and clean up her diet.

After one year of hitting the gym and eating healthily, Mimi has dropped 30 pounds and 12 inches from her waist plus built a lot of muscle. Enough muscle to begin competing in bodybuilding championships - all the while pursuing a rigorous doctoral program. After competing and placing fifth in her age category, Dr. Mimi fell in love with the sport and now at age 64 has competed in three more competitions and written a book about her experiences.

When Olga Kotelko retired from teaching and after raising two daughters, she took up coed softball at age 64. She played that sport until she was 77 years old when she decided it was safer, after a collision with a man twice her size, to enter the world of Track and Field. The switch was easy for Olga, as she developed skills in throwing and running from her softball days.

Olga's first event was in the UK where she set her first record. In the following 18 years she won 750 gold medals and set 37 world records in the 100-meter dash, long jumps and hammer throw. Olga continued to break records, including her own. She competed in this sport until her death at age 95.

Olga proved that one could live to a healthy older age if one is willing to be physically and mentally active in later years.

I love this quote from one of tennis's greatest, Martina Navratilova: "The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed".

Being all in is the key to making anything happen. Are you the chicken or the pig?

This post was written before the crash that killed one of our greatest athletes; Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna and 7 others. My prayers and condolences are with their families. May they rest in peace.

xo

Trials

A dear friend tripped and fell while walking her dogs and broke three ribs and bruised her face badly. Two weeks later while pulling out of a grocery store parking lot she was hit broadside. She suffered three more broken ribs, a broken bone in her hip, a broken bone in her ankle and a cracked sternum. She spent several days in the hospital and is now home and in a wheelchair and will be for quite some time. She has 24/7 care with an agency and has her loving husband by her side doing whatever else needs to be done.  I plan on going to see her as soon as she is up to it.  She's in California, I'm in Arizona.

My sister has her dental work done in Mexico and has an infection in an implant the dentist completed last year. Whenever she goes there, I accompany her as I don't want her to endure this alone. Often it is a week or more that we are there. If the antibiotics do not clear up this infection, off to Mexico we go.

Richard, a friend my husband and I have had since our high school days was here visiting recently and he and hubby had a falling out. They have not reconciled and Richard left hurt and angry. This is painful after all these years of friendship.

Another very close friend is progressing from Mild Cognitive Impairment into Alzheimer's faster than we anticipated. She would like to visit me in AZ but her family and I are not sure how this will work given her limitations.

These events are not tragic by any stretch compared to what others endure, however, they are serious to those involved.

I am healthy, strong, happy and very fortunate that I have never had a major disease or surgery (other than knee replacements and two Caesarians) yet these trials my friends are going through are difficult to bear. I can't imagine how hard it is for them.

Of course, I've had my share of challenges and heartaches as have all of us if we've lived long enough, yet it is a helpless feeling to not be able to kiss away the hurt and make it better. At the very least, I am able to be there for them, hold their hand, give a hug and listen.

It is an honor to be able to be an ear and shoulder for a loved one.

xo

Welcoming Change, or Not

A new year usually inspires change and I want to share this quote from Deepak Chopra regarding change:

"Even if we feel our lives are stuck in a rut, the truth is that life is still constantly changing. This element of change is what makes life interesting, creative and new. We resist change because we mistakenly look for security in the past."

I must admit, I don't always welcome change. When I discovered that the father of my children was partaking in pastimes that went outside of our marital vows, I had to take action. I demanded that he stop immediately. Nice try. It took a couple of years before I was finally able to make the break, given our boys were only 4 and 10 years old. The change was not only unwelcome, it was heartbreaking, mostly for the children. By this time, I was done with him. Yet, the change was still difficult, and my lovely, affluent lifestyle came to an abrupt halt and back to work I went.

As it often happens, this change was for the best. Yes, it was hard on us but the growth that took place and the people we have become would not have transpired if we stayed together.

I relish change when it's my idea. Take pickleball, for instance. When I got the impulse to try this sport I was immediately smitten! And it has changed my life in unexpected ways. I have met and befriended a group of women who are a big part of my life today and I have a feeling we will always have a special connection, no matter what the future brings.

I have gained a new level of confidence by stepping out and engaging in this sport and am continuously improving (well, mostly). Pickleball has also given me both a source of energy and an outlet for it. I now have a new form of exercise to complement my hikes and stretching. Soon, I will return to the gym for Pilates and yoga, barre and weights, another very much needed change.

Being proactive and looking for ways to be engaged and interested in something new has given me an energized state of mind. My life wasn't exactly in a rut but pickleball has definitely been a welcome plus.

xo

Cooking

When I was married to the father of my children, back in the '70's-'90's, I loved to cook. Peter loved to eat and our son, Anthony, followed quickly in his father's footsteps, and would eat anything his dad ate. Both Peter and I came from Italian heritage so Italian food was our favorite.

In those days, meals were more elaborate and heavier than what most of us consume today. Caesar salad, followed by pasta and meatballs or lasagne were weekly dishes I would prepare. Of course, this was accompanied by garlic bread and usually a homemade dessert. For a dinner party, Chateaubriand with bearnaise sauce and twice baked potatoes was the norm, preceded by appetizers and followed by a rich dessert. Amazingly, we weren't overweight!

It was very satisfying to cook and watch as my family relished the food I lovingly prepared. My younger son, Nick, wasn't as avid an eater as his brother and father, still, he enjoyed most of what I cooked.

Fast forward 20 years or so - children grown, husband now an ex and cooking has taken a back seat. Food preparation became easy dishes such as broiled wild salmon accompanied with a salad or rotisserie roasted chicken and a veggie.

Enter the 2010's and a new hubby. Let me tell you, this guy loves to eat!  Problem is, I no longer love to cook. I have been doing my best to make him happy and cook something tasty most nights.  I usually prepare enough for leftovers at least twice a week. Thee ye olde crock pot has been resurrected and I use it often. Last night it was used for chicken cacciatore and the previous night for BBQ spare ribs. Both very satisfying and fairly easy meals. Then there is "take out" that we indulge in once a week or so. I have no qualms about this as I have put in my time in the kitchen and now can rest somewhat on my laurels.

xo

Goals and Growth

January 1st of every year is typically the time many of us set new goals. However, last September, I was inspired to set three goals for myself to be achieved in one year. The first and second months I was going full steam ahead but by month three, my enthusiasm had faded a bit. Not because these goals were no longer important but because of other life issues that took priority over my goals. Excuses, excuses.  Now is the time to get back on track, though I will not bore you by restating them.  Time to forge ahead, once again.

An interesting idea Hal Elrod makes in his book The Miracle Equation is that setting and achieving a goal is important, of course, but the most significant lesson for him was taught by Jim Rohn; to paraphrase: The purpose of setting a goal is not to hit the goal. The real purpose of setting a goal is to develop yourself into the type of person who can achieve your goals, regardless of whether you hit any particular one or not. It is who you become by giving it everything you have - regardless of your results - that enables you to develop the mindset and behaviors that will help you achieve bigger and bigger goals for the rest of your life.

Now, granted, most of us have set and achieved many goals by this point in our lives and have learned a good number of lessons in that process, but in order to keep our brains and bodies as vital as possible as we age, I believe that goal setting has a place in our lives at any age.

Setting goals gives us a target, a purpose - that helps us focus our energy into something that is worth achieving. In addition, as we strive to achieve our goals we will make mistakes - and this is not to be feared.  Quite the opposite. Making mistakes means we are trying something new, learning, pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones, taking chances on a venture where there is no guarantee for success.  How exciting!  This is how to live life - set goals that stretch us and continue to help us grow. To 2020 - a year of growth, fun and adventure for all of us.

xo