I don't know about you but being a grown up isn't all it's cracked up to be. I remember when I was little thinking that everything would be so amazing when I was an adult. You know, be able to do whatever you want, buy any type of food you want and the biggest deal of all...stay up as late as you want! But it doesn't seem to be all that I dreamed it would be which is why I was way too serious and even stuffy most of the time.
Isn't it funny how things seem to flip flop as you age. When you're a kid you have to be dragged into bed for an afternoon nap. Now, we would all love to have a chance to nap everyday! And have dinner made for us each day. And oh my gosh...have all our bills paid! Yeah, this grown up thing isn't at all what I thought it was going to be. But the one thing that is really cool is we get to decide how we want to act everyday and no one can tell us that we can't.
Think about how goofy you acted as a kid. You made fart noises on your arm and made fun of the girls and boys you liked and would just twirl around in your dress to see it fly out. I'm not saying you should be doing any of these things while in a business meeting but let that freak flag fly a little here and there. One of the biggest changes in my life once I left my pessimistic ways behind was I embraced my inner goof ball. I used to worry so much about being cool and I'm not sure what because I don't think I was ever really cool. But I would have never done silly or outrageous things because that is what nerds do or so I thought. And if it is only nerds that can be silly than call me nerd number one!
If you want to sing at the top of your lungs while driving into work then by gosh, do it! If you want to dance around the kitchen while you make dinner, yep...do it. If you want to bust on your spouse and your kids...they'll have to deal with it. My husband and I are constantly teasing each other. And we often do it in a dry sort of way that may come across wrong in public. Like when I tell him I'm going to punch him in the face when he annoys me in a store. We'll just keep walking along like I said nothing at all and some people probably think I'm a real bitch. It would be completely different for him to say this to me in public but we know this. It doesn't really matter what others think (you know, as long as you aren't threatening violence).
I often get songs stuck in my head because I really do go around my house singing random songs that pop into my head. And what's even more fun is when I start making up my own words to the song. I have to say I'm actually pretty good at finding words that fit and flow having to do with whatever we may be doing at the time. There are times when my husband gives that belly laugh at some of the words I make up and it feels really good. Being goofy is good!
I think part of the reason we start to lose steam as we age is because we stop playing so hard. Don't get me wrong, I do realize that we don't have the same amount of energy or stamina as we do in our younger years but once we start slowing down we can get to an absolute crawl if we don't make an effort to keep moving. But we often stop being active because we think that is something for when you are young. You just kind of figure you should slow down when you get older. But I think that is where so many of us go wrong.
As you may or may not know, I'm a pickelballer. Yes, I love me some pickleball. If you aren't familiar with the game it's basically a cross between ping pong and tennis. It's a lot like tennis but the court is smaller and it's not as taxing on your body. It is something that has me moving way more than I have in the past few years and I have been pretty active in the past. I've been an avid bike rider and I love to kayak. But this is much more physical than that and burns a lot of calories (which is always good, right?) A session usually lasts about 2 to 3 hours. I'm 51 and there are days I'm completely wiped out. But it's very popular with people much older than me. I heard some people talking the other day about playing in their 70's when their parents would never have been able to be so active at the same age.
We are living longer and are healthier for many more years than in the past and we should make sure to take advantage of that. There is a man who lives across the lagoon from me who is 84. He lives by himself and gets around amazingly. He loves to garden and grows so many things. His backyard looks like a produce section. He is out in his yard all day long tinkering with this or that. He always jokes to me that the worst thing for a retired person is the couch and remote control.
My stepfather is also in his 80's and gets around great. Also, lives by himself and is able to still take care of himself completely. He still drives and has hobbies that keep him occupied. Once you decide to just sit in a chair and do nothing all day it starts to go downhill. Not to mention that isn't much of a life. My mother spent the majority of her time sitting around watching tv and she wasn't very healthy. She died in her mid 70's. She had health issues for a long time but sitting around not doing much certainly didn't help. And as I've said many times stop sitting around watching other people's lives on television. Go out and live your own!!!
So stop acting your age for goodness sake. Be goofy, have fun, sing loudly and dance when you can. Take up new hobbies and activities. You may just find something that you will become addicted to like I have with pickleball. The only way to find out is to keep trying new things.
There are so many things we think that will make us happy that actually don't and vice versa. That is something I am going to be diving into a little deeper soon. I'm going to be offering a mastermind soon on all the things we have wrong about attaining happiness. And there is a lot!
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Now go on out there and be badass this week. You know I'm here cheering you on.
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