fitover50

It’s hard enough to do everything that needs to be done as it is. I have a pet peeve, however, when it comes to repetitive work that takes up valuable hours of my life and never seems to actually be completed. You know what I mean. Stuff like laundry, dishes, general household maintenance, taking out garbage. . . The stuff you do over and over and over again. Do it today. . . it needs done again the day after tomorrow. Do it this morning. . . it needs done again tonight.

I have this great fantasy of actually accomplishing something meaningful in my life. When I spend hours doing something that is never really done, I feel like my life is draining away right before my eyes. Yet, if I don’t spend the time necessary to complete these repetitive tasks, I am weighed down by the burden of unfinished business. And so it goes.

I guess that’s part of the answer to the questions about the meaning of life. A lot of it is simply doing the stuff that must be done.

I just wish I could have two more hours each day to accomplish the mundane tasks that must be done. Yeah, I know, men in hell want ice water.

One thing I like about being over 50 - I no longer need to make excuses for the decisions I make. I feel that, since I have reached a certain age, there’s no telling just how many more good years I have left. I need to make faster decisions because the clock is ticking and I am very, very aware of that fact.

And so, in light of the fact that there is no time like to present to act, let me just say that I have taken on two new activities in recent weeks. One is spinning, the very high energy cycling program that gives new meaning to the cliche, “That which doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.” The other activity is yoga. The relaxation of yoga helps me to recover from the the super efforts of the spinning class.

I am loving both of these activities. As I state with great regularity, I am always in search of new and different ways to exercise both my mind and my body. Adding these two classes to my life has given me a new perspective on how I am looking at the world. I feel excited, energetic and a little younger, if that’s possible. I have discovered something I didn’t know about before and it has arroused my curiosity to investigate other areas.

I’m open to suggestions. What do you do to add spark to your life? To your exercise program? To your way of looking at the world? Drop an e-mail, share with us here at Fit Over 50.

When I was a child and people would ask me what I wanted to do or to be when I grew up, one of my common answers was to say, “I want to invent something.” I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to invent then. I don’t have any idea what I want to invent now. But I still want to invent something.

The reason for this goal, I have since come to realize, is that I want to leave something behind on this earth after I leave it behind me for whatever may exist beyond my time here. The need to be important in the world exists for most of us, I’m sure. After 50, the need may become an obsession as we realize we are not immortal. There is a time limit to this whole wild, crazy experience we call life. And, to coin a common cliche, “It’s later than you think.”

I spend a lot of time chasing myself around in circles trying to leave that mark on the world. I don’t think I’ve done anything, up to this point in time, that is particularly note-worthy. Beyond a few friends and family members, I can’t imagine who will remember me at all a few years after I’m gone.

I am disturbed by this. I don’t know what to do about it, if anything. I try to do the best I can at my job, in my home, in my marriage and in the world in general. Sure, I’m a good person, whatever that means. But, I’m quite sure there has been nothing up to this day that will earn me a place in the history books, in my community or even as a byline on a blog.

As the new year begins, I find the urge to “Make my Mark” to be greater in me than ever. Have you made your mark yet? Do you think you ever will? Do you have any idea what making your mark might entail? I would love to hear your answer to any of those questions.

The holiday season has come and gone once again. And, once again, for that I am eternally grateful. The chaos, the pre-planned events that took control of my life, the out of control frenzy that robbed me of the opportunity to be master of my own destiny, are now part of my memory bank. Good memories, to be sure, but happily locked away to allow me room to stretch and grow and get on with my life’s work.

It’s refreshing to take a break from the sameness of life. This, I suppose, is why the holiday season has evolved into the monster event that it has. We need to step back, take a few breaths, walk away from the daily grind. . . and party!

That being said, once again, I’m glad it’s over. I need to get back to my normal schedule. I need my day planner to run my life. I need to see forward momentum towards my goals. I’ve been away long enough.

Share your thoughts on holiday craziness. Share your thoughts on the return of normalcy. What will you be returning to in the New Year?

Maybe this is an out-moded concept - the idea of making New Year’s Resolutions. If so, I don’t care. I still find value in taking time to evaluate where I am in life and where I hope to go in the near future. By way of doing this, I take a quick glance back at the road behind me and I look ahead to where I want to go. Then I decide on a course of action that involves a few steps that will get me on the right path again. I call this course of action my “New Year’s Resolutions.”

As always, I will be looking for ways to improve my diet and my eating habits. I am a bit of an obsessive fiend when it comes to food, diet and nutrition. I’m always looking for ways to improve. I am, by no means, a “goody two shoes” when it comes to proper diet and nutrition. I’m just a good “wannabee.”

In pursuit of my goal to improve my diet this year, I am vowing to increase my intake of vegetables. To be absolutely, directly and point-blank honest, there have been days in my life where I know I have not consumed a single, solitary vegetable. Phew, there I said it. I’m not proud of that fact but, it is a fact, none the less.

So, as I prepare to reestablish a diet plan for myself, I am in search of new and interesting recipes. The one I have in my head right now is for some sort of stuffed shell recipe where the stuffing is primarily, or wholey, comprised of vegetables.

Am I off my rocker? Does such a thing exist? I would be greatly interested in finding such a recipe, so if you have one, and are willing to share it with the world, drop an e-mail. It will find its way into the world with little or no delay.

I am seeing a gimmick showing up in my mail from time to time that has begun to disturb me. Credit card companies are sending out these little congratulatory checks for small amounts of money, oh, say $8.50 or $9.25. They encourage you to cash them. It’s their gift to you.

Problem is, if you read the small print, when you cash these checks you have, in effect, signed up for some sort of “credit protection” policy that will be billed to your credit card to the tune of something like $64.99 semi-annually. So, for a whopping $8.50 you are now responsible for a basically useless charge that will keep recurring from now until the end of time.

Now, I consider myself to be savvy enough to realize that if something looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is. In fact, I am not so desperate for $8.50 that I will automatically grab at every dollar bill that comes my way. However, not all adults are so wary of “free gifts.”

I know of an elderly woman who cashed one of these “gifts” before her more astute daughter found out about it. The daughter has spent the last three months trying to get this ridiculous protection plan removed from her mother’s credit card. To add insult to injury, the woman is now receiving these gifts of “free money” on an almost weekly basis. The daughter is on high alert trying to make sure her elderly mother does not fall prey to this trickery again. They poor woman still does not quite understand just how deceptive and injurious this situation is in her life.

I received one of these checks in my mail today. I automatically shredded the paper. Thinking over the situation now, the next time I receive one of these checks, I think I will turn the matter over to the attorney generals office. They have a division to handle deceptive practices. Anytime someone is tricked into a purchase they did not intend to make, I call that deception.

Being Fit Over 50 means being prudent with our finances as well. For many of us, this time of life means watching over the affairs of our aging parents, those who must struggle much more to be Fit Over 50 (70, 80, 90 . . .) We need to watch over our elders. Hopefully someone will be there to watch over us when the time comes.

I’ve spent a lot of time in my life not doing some things I’ve wanted to do because I did not feel I could do them “perfectly.” I have not pursued career opportunities because I did not think I was qualified enough. I did not expose my hobbies to the world because my output was not “perfect.”

I have spent a lot of time waiting to be good enough at something to be able to show my talents to the world. For example, I would love to sing (somewhere more than just in the shower). I don’t. I haven’t. And I won’t. The reason? I’m afraid the world will see my mediocre voice for what it is (and what it isn’t) and will somehow disapprove.

I have passed up career options because I didn’t feel I was as good as someone who was already following that career path. I have put off writing the stories of my heart because I didn’t think my skills would measure up.

Somewhere along the way, I’ve started to realize that a whole lot of average joe’s are out there doing whatever it is they want to do and bringing good, bad and indifferent abilities to the party. A great number of people are not concerned with being perfect, only with doing what they want to do.

I’m happy with this new knowledge. I attribute it to one of the advantages of being Fit Over 50. Finally, at long last, I am coming into my own in terms of what I do and how I feel about what I do.

In the last few years I have joined the church choir. I don’t sing solo. I still don’t think the world is ready to that. But I do contribute something to the cause and my imperfect voice has found a home.

In the last year I was begun pursuing freelance writing opportunities and have been pleasantly surprised to see that my skills are at least good enough to have resulted in a handful of sales so far. It has given me the confidence to seek out more challenging markets for my work.

Am I alone in only realizing at 50+ that I can do what I want to do without being “perfect” first? I don’t think so. If you have any areas of life where you are experiencing an awakening in terms of what you are pursuing, or would like to pursue if you weren’t afraid, drop us an e-mail. Share with us the imperfect you reaching out to do your thing in an imperfect world.

I don’t know about you, but my view of holiday celebrations has certainly evolved in the 50+ years I have walked this earth. Of course the excitement of childhood holidays can be expected to change and mature as the idea of Santa Claus gives way to the practicality of working for a living in order to earn the money needed for holiday gift buying.

But, it’s more than that. I no longer want to be the recipient of holiday gifts. I feel as if my life is so full and rich that it is almost an embarrassment for me to accept gifts, especially from people who have far greater needs in their own lives than I have.

Today, the holidays are a time when I look at the world at large and wonder, “just what have I done to justify my time and place on the planet?” I don’t want to reach the end of my life and feel that all I did was take up space and use valuable resources.

Commercialism has turned the holidays into a huge “entitlement feast” where the main goal is to determine what “I” want and what “I” need to have to complete myself. I don’t think this was the original intent.

Do you have special ways of commemorating the holidays? How do you share the spirit of the season so that others are enriched by your presence in their lives? Drop an e-mail and share the special feelings of this season.

I’ve spent half a lifetime in search of the right purse. I like to haul my junk around, so I think I need a purse on the larger size. I don’t want to be bothered changing my purse to go with every outfit so I need a more neutral purse - basically black leather fits the bill. Much of my life is lived in a conservative world, so I need a conservative purse - no tassles, chains or bizarre graphic designs.

A simple, normal, grown up handbag. I can’t find it. I’ve tried cheap. I’ve tried moderately priced. I’ve gone a little higher priced than that (I refuse to invest in a really expensive purse; I would have to carry it for the rest of my life).

There must be some psychological issues tied up in this for me. That’s the only explanation.

Knowing that, I’m ready to go out on a fresh expedition. Somewhere out there, a purse I can live with is just waiting for me to find it, take it home with me, and fill it with the paraphernalia of my life!

We seem to be settling into winter here in the Northeastern quadrant of the United States a little early this year. That’s not all bad. One of the advantages of this time of year is that I will have more time to pursue one of my big goals in terms of things I want to accomplish before I die.

This time, my goal is to further my pursuit of reading some of the great classics novels of literature. Relative to most of my friends and acquaintances, I am fairly well read. But there are still some truly great works I would like to claim as part of my reading list. I’m trying to find a totally different genre to dip into this time. I have read a large selection of great American and English authors: Faulkner, Hemingway, Twain, etc. I have read a great deal of the classic French authors as well: Voltaire, Camus, Hugo, Balzac, Simenon, etc.

I want to strike out in another direction this year. I’m open to suggestions. Drop an e-mail with your suggestions of classic writers that have inspired you and given you new eyes with which to view the world.