WordSisters

  • The New Peer Group

    cmkraack's avatar

    cmkraack

    Recently I joined the YMCA, tried a yoga/Pilate combo class then attended the orientation session required before a personal trainer consultation. I made my reservation, studied group offerings, and put together a few questions.

    What I missed was the message that this meeting existed for adults fifty-five and over, complete with handouts and a discussion of course offerings that didn’t require doing anything on the floor. During introductions I shared my interests and mentioned an interval training course I thought might be a challenge. Chair yoga, gentle stretching, and a couple of special aqua classes were presented along with a building tour and treadmill demonstration.

    Bundling all adults over fifty-five into one peer group makes as much sense as organizing only one social activity for school children between ages five and eighteen. The year my mother turned fifty-five she decided it was time to sell the house and move into a building built just for their peer group. They were in the prime of their working years, still building retirement accounts, dancing and traveling.  She believed the developer’s advertising about making new friends who were also unencumbered by children and building a rich social life.

    My father noted the assistance bars in the bathroom, the lack of entertainment space in each unit, people my grandparents’ ages in the lobby. He refused to move into a senior citizen facility called something more attractive. And continued refusing for the next quarter century.img_5048

    It appears that decades after my mother’s attraction to the advertising of an over fifty-five condo, marketers are still lazy about how to identify the needs of those who check the last box in the age question. How about adding a few more boxes? I am glad to be beyond tampon days but am not ready for Depends. I just wanted to know if a personal trainer would think that the interval course was going to be too much of a challenge.

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    2 responses to “The New Peer Group”

    1. Eliza Waters Avatar
      Eliza Waters

      It’s the age group my sister calls the ‘Invisible Age.’ Not on the radar!

    2. Jan Wenker Avatar
      Jan Wenker

      Oh dear!

      Sent from my iPad

      >

  • I Stepped Out Of The Car …

    Elizabeth di Grazia's avatar

    Elizabeth di Grazia

    Juan Jose and Crystel – summit Whitefish, Mountain.

    I stepped out of the car. My legs crumpled under me. A stark reminder that I needed to make a date to have both of my knees replaced.

    Gingerly, I straightened. Re-balanced. Even so, I walked lopsided towards the gas station. I took short little steps uncertain in my movements. With each footstep forward, I adjusted my back, testing my knees to hold me. To onlookers, it may have appeared that I had one leg shorter than another or hip problems. A little old lady shuffling into the station, focusing

    Jody

    on each step to avoid slipping on the icy asphalt.

    In the car, I didn’t feel pain. Juan Jose’ had been driving the first leg of our journey to Whitefish, Montana. Sitting in the front passenger seat, I was able to maneuver my legs, stretch, elevate my knees, and shuffle my butt around. The suddenness of being unable to move or walk properly after resting in the car 2 ½ hours was frightening.

    I hadn’t realized how unstable my knees were. I was well-accustomed to my knees burning and throbbing, having learned to lessen the pain with ice, ibuprofen, and exercise. Being crippled after sitting in a car was an eye-opener.

    Dogsledding

    I had planned our Whitefish, Montana trip to celebrate my 60th birthday. I wanted to introduce Juan Jose’ and Crystel to mountain downhill skiing, snowmobiling, dogsledding and cross-country skiing in Glacier National Park. Bucket list items.

    In the previous few months, there were several occasions that Jody asked me if I wanted to alter my plans. Perhaps, be less adventurous, more knee friendly, more old-ladyish (though she didn’t put it that way).

    I had planned this trip for well over a year. Reservations were made. Friends would be joining us. Knee replacement and sedentary activities would have to wait.

    snowmobiling to the top of the mountain

    The most difficult part of our trip would prove to be getting out of the car after a long car ride.

    It wasn’t downhill skiing 6817ft from the summit at Whitefish, Mountain or being a passenger on Crystel’s snowmobile as she drove to the top of the mountain or journeying with Jody by dog sled.

    I was comfortable in the car, but when I stood to take those first few steps I was crippled.

    I’ll be seeing the doctor tomorrow to set a date for my double knee replacement.

    Only thing is, I am registered to ski 15k on the Birkie trail February 22, 2019 and I have a trip to Florida planned the first week in April. I plan to paddle board, be a passenger on Juan Jose’s jet ski and walk on the beach.

    I’ll pen the knee replacement surgery in my calendar. Stop adding adventures. Promise.

     

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  • Resolved: Nothing

    Ellen Shriner's avatar

    Ellen Shriner

    Resolutions past and present

    This year I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions. That’s odd, because they have always appealed to me. I cherish the idea of fresh starts, and I have an abiding belief in a person’s ability to change. And it’s not as if I’ve magically become a better person who doesn’t need to improve!

    But I’m moving away from this familiar yearly cycle—Wanting to change –>making resolutions –> attacking my goals for a while –> losing energy and focus –> feeling bad –> re-resolving to incorporate the changes.

    For example, year after year I have vowed to exercise regularly and to devote more time to writing. I’d start off full of zeal—this is the year! But establishing habits is a daily battle. Oops, I ran out of time. Something came up. Better luck tomorrow. Eventually, my enthusiasm would flag. Hmm. Maybe the fact that I had to renew those intentions yearly was a hint that my approach wasn’t working!

    Early last year, I stumbled across a better way to incorporate new habits into my life. The insight came about as a side effect of writing out my weekly calendar. Instead of taking a work-before-pleasure approach, I began identifying blocks of time when I could do the things that matter most to me: writing, volunteering, exercising, connecting with friends and family, and pursuing other creative outlets (e.g., pottery, sewing, trying a new recipe). After I’ve made time for my priorities, I fit in necessary evils like cleaning, laundry, appointments, and shopping.

    Writing a detailed calendar may sound fussy and restrictive, but for me, it’s energizing. It’s about scheduling fun. Fulfillment. I’m making time for what I like to do and what I think is important. And that’s a good thing. I rarely do everything I set out to do, but I get around to most of it. Consequently, I have fewer regrets about how I spend my time and less need for the same old resolutions spurred by what I wish I’d done.

    I still plan to lose two pounds of cookies and do strength training more consistently. And I will. I still want to be kinder, more patient, less critical, and more grateful. I’ll work on that, too. But this year, I’m saying goodbye to the yearly cycle of regrets and resolutions.

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    8 responses to “Resolved: Nothing”

    1. ron877 Avatar
      ron877

      I have also discovered this “block” approach to scheduling. I made tentative starts with it a few months before the New Year. Your post draws my attention to making the approach a bit more refined.
      This comes at a time when I am tentatively and not too enthusiastically exploring the “new” WordPress editor, Gutenburg.
      Synergy.

      1. Ellen Shriner Avatar
        Ellen Shriner

        I have the same reaction to Gutenberg . . .

    2. bbachel Avatar
      bbachel

      Thx for framing this up in such a positive, easy-going way. I, too, hope for fewer regrets and a greater sense that I’ve accomplished things without having to constantly drive (force?) myself to do so.

      1. Ellen Shriner Avatar
        Ellen Shriner

        Keeping a weekly schedule is an indirect approach to goal setting—but it works for me! So nice to see you Friday.

    3. Ann Coleman Avatar
      Ann Coleman

      Sounds like a wise decision to me!

    4. Susanne Avatar
      Susanne

      Great approach to scheduling fun and fitting in the drudgery as required instead of the other way around. I keep a calendar/diary at home and note positive things I’ve done (books read, stories submitted, movies seen, skating on the Rideau Canal, vacations, etc.) Your approach though is proactive, not haphazard like mine. Good on you!

      1. Ellen Shriner Avatar
        Ellen Shriner

        I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out!

    5. Jan Wenker Avatar
      Jan Wenker

      Good idea…I agree!

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