Geezerdom is a coming to terms with the body's transformations. I once was able to jump flatfooted from the floor to the top of a person's desk. Though why I wanted to do that, I do not know. Sheer exuberance, I think. Now I just flatfoot it across the floor. And that's fine with me.
What care I if a 100 year old woman runs(?) marathons and lifts weights? If that is what she wants to do, fine. But don't hold her and other body pushers up as a role model for all geezers and geezelles. That's just another hype from the "boomers" who believe that with the right nutrition, physical exercise, sexual activity, and following some version of the Gospel of Oprah, they will not age like their unenlightened parents and other assorted ancestors.
Sure, I understand the importance of moving around, but moving around at age 73 has a different meaning than it did three decades ago. There is something nice about moving more slowly. One sees a lot more and one is a lot more. One becomes one's context rather than zipping through it on the way to somewhere.
Every age has its way of expressing its exuberance. At an earlier age I felt I could not be contained and continued bursting all perceived bounds. At this age, I feel boundless. I am already "there" so what is the rush to get there? No need to get all exercised.
What care I if a 100 year old woman runs(?) marathons and lifts weights? If that is what she wants to do, fine. But don't hold her and other body pushers up as a role model for all geezers and geezelles. That's just another hype from the "boomers" who believe that with the right nutrition, physical exercise, sexual activity, and following some version of the Gospel of Oprah, they will not age like their unenlightened parents and other assorted ancestors.
Sure, I understand the importance of moving around, but moving around at age 73 has a different meaning than it did three decades ago. There is something nice about moving more slowly. One sees a lot more and one is a lot more. One becomes one's context rather than zipping through it on the way to somewhere.
Every age has its way of expressing its exuberance. At an earlier age I felt I could not be contained and continued bursting all perceived bounds. At this age, I feel boundless. I am already "there" so what is the rush to get there? No need to get all exercised.
Oh, so true...thank you, George! ♥ Cathy
ReplyDeleteI don't want to sound like a woo-hoo dork, but having said that ...
ReplyDeleteI've noticed similarly, George, that meditation is quite different as I age as well. It's as if my mind no longer struggles so much to cling to its delicious chatter and endless rumination. Instead, my mind (consciousness) seems to long for the respite, so when I meditate, the stillness is more welcome, like a soothing drink of cool water.
Also, I'm witnessing that more of life becomes a meditation, in contrast to being a designated act.
Personally, I don't believe that this greater ease in meditation is the result of years of practice, but is related to my mind becoming more content, with age, to standing on the floor instead of having to leap flat-footed to any nearby desk. ;-)
I wonder if this in any way resembles your own experience, George.
Greg, yes. Meditation, prayer state, envisioning, mindfulness, living in the realm of the mythos, all seem more natural and easy now.
ReplyDelete"For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Philippians 4:11