Can you believe it is over three months now that, because of Covid 19, we are still under a social distancing edict with orders to still wear masks when we go out? And many of us are still staying home to protect ourselves. Yes, we may go to a store once in a while but things just “ain’t what they used to be”. With that in mind, I just found another article I wrote when I traveled to Italy to celebrate my 80th birthday……………….
We keep reading articles that state 40 is the “new” 20 and 50 is the “new” 30, 60 the “new 40…………well, I am here to tell you that 80 is the “new” whatever you want it to be.
I just celebrated my 80th birthday (seven years ago) and it was a blast! I was talking to a couple of my girlfriends the other day who are a few years older and we all agree that we have discovered the word that best describes this time in our life. It is called Freedom.
What does freedom mean? Free to do, say, be anything that brings you closer to your true self. No longer do we have to wear masks so others will see us as they want us to be. No longer do we have to say what others want to hear to be in synch with their ideas, thoughts and experiences. We are so over the need to “be liked”.
This freedom is such a gift. It is like a warm, refreshing body of water that washes over us. Can you see us floating, face up, smiling and even laughing as we move around this body of water, not knowing where it will take us? That is part of the joy, the excitement, the warm pleasure of movement.
Each day I wake up and am open to whatever this day brings to me. Asheville, North Carolina is a great place, not only for the younger population, but for those of us in the Third Age. The College for seniors which now is called OLLI, offers life enrichment programs where we can continue our love of learning new skills, sharing our ideas or simply getting off our butts and moving our bodies. Last year I even learned a new skill: how to play Texas Hold’em Poker! My love of the theater has brought me many roles with the Autumn Players which is housed at ACT downtown Asheville. Last fall, as a member of the Reader’s Theater, I performed in Moss Hart’s play, Light Up The Sky. As the wife of a Broadway producer, I played a professional ice skater with a Brooklyn accent, no less.
I am so in love with life! I am so open to the beauty around me wherever I am. And the people I meet, new to me each day. I love hearing their stories, their experiences and realize their experiences are mine. This age has brought me to a place where I no longer have judgement or criticism of other’s experiences. Each of us is on our own path of life. And even through our childhood experiences, good or bad, may color what we do as adults, we each have our own choice to live our lives now as our very own person. Can you feel the power in that? So 80 is not only a joyous time and a time of freedom, it is a time to be powerful!
(Editor’s note) As I reread the line above “I love hearing their stories, their experience and realize their experiences are mine”, I am reminded of some of the comments I receive from readers of my book, Therefore Choose Life. Many write to me, after reading my book, that they couldn’t believe how my stories brought back memories of their own lives and/or that they shared some of the same experiences that I had experienced. I must say that gives me a good feeling as I wanted my readers to be involved in their own lives by reading my stories.
