A few weeks ago I was at a concert in the park at Seal Beach. With the ocean in the background, a warm breeze in the air and surrounded by friends listening to a great band, I was in a deep reflective mood. I am not the greatest dancer in the world and I felt a little self-conscisous about getting up and dancing in front of all those people. So I sat in my beach chair people watching and using the excuse that my knee hurt is why I couldn't dance. Which was true, I am still recovering from a sprained MCL and torn meniscus!
Seal Beach is a really great small beach community with some very friendly people. I had never been there before but after my very short visit, I want to retire there! As I looked around at the crowd, many were seniors with beautiful smiles and happy wrinkles around their eyes. One couple caught my attention though. They must have been well into their eighties, both a little hunched over, but slim and healthy looking. The gentleman led his bride to the dance floor and these two lovebirds stayed out there dancing song after song. She was beaming and he seemed to just cherish this woman in the way he spun her as they danced. It brought tears to my eyes to see how much fun this couple was having. When the music died down and the crowd was dispersing, I saw this wonderful couple again. He was packing up their chairs and she was just dancing away, shaking her hips, hands in the air and a twinkle in her eyes.
Now, a few weeks after my day at Seal Beach, I realize just how much this couple taught me. I never spoke with them, but their actions spoke volumes to me. I love to be active! I love to run, hike, cycle, swim, take long walks and enjoy the great outdoors. However, to be able to continue to do all of those things well into my golden years, I need to be sure to take care of myself now. I'm no spring chicken, but I have many more years to live. Since I entered into my 40's, my body just isn't the same. It takes forever to recover from injuries, my joints sometimes ache for no apparent reason, my weight won't seem to budge especially in my belly, it's harder to see and sometimes I walk into a room with a purpose just to stand there trying to remember what I came there for! The beautiful dancing elderly couple had all the same issues but magnified 10 times I'm certain, yet they lived their life as if they were in their 20's. There are so many things that I want to do - an olympic distance triathlon, the Tough Mudder, travel, climb Half Dome and much more. So for me, no more wishing...time to really start living and not use age as an excuse to not try new things.
Some other things I learned from that lovely couple is that I can't worry about what others think. They got up on that dance floor and danced like rockstars. They were not professional dancers, they just let go and had a ball! So, join me in this new life mantra...Live your life and forget your age!
