I was in the grocery store yesterday and heard a woman talking on the phone, bemoaning how horrible she felt. "I don't know who said life starts at fifty," she grumbled. "Well, it starts all right, it starts going downhill fast. I'm falling apart! Getting old is awful!"
I've heard all kinds of statements like that and I bet you have too. The question is do you believe them? I know you consciously realize they don't make good sense, but the subconscious level might be singing a different tune. If you grew up with people who believed getting old sucks--and you haven't actively created a new belief to replace it--you probably have some limiting beliefs about age and aging too on some level.
So, how about these statements--true or false:
- It's normal to have more aches and pains as you get older.
- People have to slow down as they age--they can't keep doing what they always have.
- Your body becomes less flexible as it ages.
- Older people get tired more easily.
Well, some of these may be true for people you know, but they certainly aren't true for the woman in the photo above. That's Tao Porchon-Lynch, who was just named the world's oldest yoga teacher. She's 93, and that photo was taken a couple of weeks ago. To say she leads a busy, active life seriously understates the situation. Besides teaching yoga six days a week, she's also an accomplished ballroom dancer and is headed to Puerto Rico for a competition finale in a few months, shortly after her 94th birthday.
About six years ago, she fell and broke her hip. After hip replacement surgery, the doctor told her that she wasn't going to be able to do things as she had been, and she was going to have to accept that fact and slow down. She told him he was wrong and sent him a picture a few months later to prove it.
One of my own teachers, and a woman I greatly admire, is in her mid-eighties. She travels constantly, teaches on every continent, sees private clients, has a successful business and is the go-to expert in her field--and that's just hitting the high points. Just looking at her schedule would make a teenager tired. Clearly, she didn't get the memo about people her age not feeling like doing anything.
Betty White didn't either. At 90, she's such an inspiration, and her character Elka on Hot in Cleveland, has more fun than the other women who are half her age. Ninety is good!
So, how much time do you think any of these amazing women spend sitting around talking about their aches and pains and how horrible it is to get old? Exactly--none. There's no time for such nonsense when you're doing what you love and living life to the fullest.
Still, limiting beliefs about aging are alive and well. The woman in the store had a very different view of the world than these three remarkable go-getters, and her life clearly reflected it. People who are happy, healthy and living the life they love aren't whining about how awful things are and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy to have more of it--they're out doing what they love and creating more of that!
So, here are a few sample statements to replace the old disempowering ones: "It's great to be my age! I feel amazing! I can do anything! I feel energized and fully alive. I move with ease, doing the things I love."
From birth, our bodies are changing; there's no denying that. But what we do with and to them--physically and mentally--is far more important than the number of years they've been around. It's what you've done up to this point--and what you haven't--that dictates the state your body right now. And if you don't like that state--if you don't like the level of activity you're currently capable of--get up off your butt and do something about it.
Now, don't bother telling me you don't know what to do. That's just a lame excuse to cover all kinds of fears and limiting beliefs, and sometimes laziness. Get out your rut and start trying new things. Take a continuing education class, attend a lecture, visit a museum, go to the library--anything! Try different things until you find something that stirs excitement in your heart--something you can't wait to do more of or learn more about. It really doesn't matter what you try first; just pick something. Besides getting you moving and living again, every class you take or new thing you discover puts you one step closer to finding what feeds your soul and brings you joy!
Tao Porchon-Lynch says her motto is: Nothing is impossible.
And for her, it's true. What's true for you?
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Paula Renaye is The Tough Love BFF Coach, empowerment speaker and five-time award-winning author. Her new book, Living the Life You Love--The No-Nonsense Guide to Total Transformation will be in stores in September. Read more at http://paularenaye.com.
Photo credit: Robert Sturman
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