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Reflections June 2012

Age-Full Living

Dare to Do New Things!

By Sue Ronnenkamp

I had forgotten what an exhilarating moment this is to accomplish something that started out feeling close to impossible. And I thought to myself -- why should only the young get to experience this when it's so, so good for the soul at any age? Why indeed?

When is the last time you did something for the first time? Ask kids this question and I bet they will come up with a bunch of fast answers. Ask an adult this question and most will have to think about this long and hard before they can respond. To me, that's a sad statement about adulthood and about growing up and older.

I personally love this question. I first heard it many years ago when one of my aerobics instructors dared us to risk doing something for the first time. It set me off on a quest to see what new things I could try and bring into my own life. Now I often ask this same question in my Age-Full Living course and programs -- hoping that I'll set some in the audience off on a similar enlightening and rewarding quest of their own.

If you need an example to get you started, I'll tell you about a recent experience of mine. A few summers ago I decided to try an aqua (pool) class at my fitness club for the first time. I had just switched over to this club from another one, so I was more willing to try different classes because it was new and I wasn't so set in my routine. On top of this, it was summer in Texas and HOT as usual, so exercising in water sounded like a refreshing change. And also, this was a female-only club which made me feel a little braver about working out in my swimming suit -- garb that many middle aged woman like me stay far away from!

Okay, so I knew the class would be different -- but the real surprise was HOW HARD it was to exercise in water. This really shocked me since I've been working out regularly since my early 20s and thought I'd be able to do anything the instructor threw my way. But I hadn't spent any major time in a swimming pool since I was a kid, so I just had no idea that water exercise took so much core strength. I was amazed to see people far less fit than me doing things that I could not do at all. What a humbling experience.

But the really BIG challenge was still coming. A few weeks after I started the class, another instructor told us to switch to suspended mode for the movement we were doing. I didn't know what this meant, but soon discovered that she wanted us to tread water while doing the exercise. I tried it, but sunk down in the water immediately. I remember that it felt like a totally IMPOSSIBLE feat, and something I was likely to NEVER accomplish given the results of this first attempt.

I have to admit that I did not go after this challenge with gusto. For months, I didn't even attempt it when instructed to switch to suspension mode. I just grabbed a foam noodle and used that to hold me afloat in the water. And when I did try it, I just seemed to fail as miserably as I did the first time.

But I did keep going to the pool class a couple of times a week, and I kept getting better and stronger at doing all the moves but the suspended ones. Then I had my breakthrough moment, a day that came over nine months after starting the aqua class. We had a substitute teacher that night who worked us hard and differently than our regular instructor. I was in the groove of her workout when she threw in a suspended move. I just went with the flow and lo and behold, I DID IT! It wasn't pretty to watch, but I was just so proud of myself for making this much progress. I couldn't stop patting myself on the back.

A week later I tried more suspended moves in the pool class and was just as thrilled as the first time. The closest thing I can compare this to is learning to ride a bike. For me, this experience was struggle, struggle, struggle and fail, fail, fail followed finally by "I GOT IT! I DID IT!" And once you know how it feels to make it work, it starts sticking and moving into muscle memory, and becomes easier each time you do it.

I had forgotten what an exhilarating moment this is to accomplish something that started out feeling close to impossible. And I thought to myself -- why should only the young get to experience this when it's so, so good for the soul at any age? Why indeed?

So, what do you think? When is the last time you did something for the first time? When is the last time you felt exhilarated by an accomplishment? If it's been too long for you to even remember, maybe it's time for you to start off on your own daring quest. Take on a new challenge? Why not? Try something for the first time? You can do it. This really is possible at any age, and any stage of life.

 

Sue Ronnenkamp is the creator and founder of Age-Full Living, an aging education and consulting firm. For more information, visit Sue's website at www.AgeFullLiving.com.

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