HOPE MONTH: DAY 24: “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
I have always known I would be a kick-ass old lady. Perhaps this knowledge kept me from giving up. Even when I was drunk and suicidal, I knew I was going to be a kick-ass old lady. A friend, many years ago, used to talk about how we would rock on the porch together; and I used to tell her, “No. I am not the rocking chair kind of girl. I don’t see that.”
I knew I would be one of the wacky ones, who was doing and saying something outrageous. So, it is, and that is a form of hope. I have always had goals, both long and short-term goals. They motivate me to keep going when I feel like there is no point. I am not a depressed person. I have had deep times of depression in my life, but I have been, since I came around here, hopeful and waiting to see what is coming next.
We cannot anticipate life without hope. They are the same thing. Even Eeyore types who expect the worst, have hope. Their hope may be for dismal outcomes, but there is no sense of hopelessness in anticipating life, no matter how sad it might be.
Fear is a frozen state. Living inside the mind is a frozen state. When we listen to and believe the SPM, we are doomed to being frozen. I am and will be that old lady who dances and sings, no matter how bad it might look and sound. I have such deep love of music and life that I cannot imagine one without the other.
There is tremendous freedom in becoming a kick-ass old lady. I can do whatever I want. I have long since given up the pretense of behaving myself, or of pleasing others who have nothing better to do than talk about and watch what I am going to do next. God bless, them, is all I can say. I am here to celebrate the shit outta this thing. And so, I will.
There is no loss of vitality in me. I forget how old my body is on some days and do outrageous things in my morning yoga practice, then wonder how that is going to feel tomorrow. And I still overestimate how far I can hike. But it hasn’t stopped me yet.
The dreams are many, and the life is amazing. My hope is that everyone I can share this with is living the same kind of life. If not, why not? If you are waiting for something, DON’T!!! There is no way to become a kick-ass older person unless you begin RIGHT NOW to be a kick-ass younger person. It is the only way to do this thing called life.
I have never heard anyone saying at the end of their lives that they regretted having so much fun and being so outrageous. Most often, it is all the opposite. Too much work and seriousness, too much sitting around and not taking care of the aging vessel that is going to carry them into old age. It takes a strong body, a grateful heart, a sharp mind, and amazing health to kick ass…I hope you can and do!
Dolphin Hug 