Laughing Out Loud

 I read in The Week, the Best of the U.S. and International Media (July 9--16, 2021) that scientists have concluded that the aging process is, sadly, unstoppable. (I threw the magazine down in laughter. Scientists didn't know that we will grow old and die?)...

Evolutionary biology trumps everything and, so far, medical advances have been unable to beat these biological constraints.  (p.21 from The Guardian) How much of our tax dollars were spent on this discovery? 

Getting older is a problem, and it is the funniest stage of my life so far. Our daughter is turning fifty next month (Mike and Ann are already fifty, ouch) and can't wait to join AARP. I thought she was making fun of me when she said that she enjoyed watching The Kominsky Method on Netflix. "Mom," she retorted, when I accused her of making fun of my age, "I understand your age. My body is getting older, too." I laughed, and later watched another episode of the Kominsky Method. Even if you don't know the characters (two older men in Hollywood going back into the dating scene) this line can make you laugh: 

"Dating advice? Last time you went on a date, Richard Nixon was in office and he was doing well."

Sandy Kominsky in The Kominsky Method, Season 1 Episode 6 - Found at: https://www.thyquotes.com/the-kominsky-method/

The funniest not funny thing about aging is the hearing loss. My husband and I sometimes answer questions that were never asked. "But I thought you said...No you said...No, I said...." at which point neither of us has any idea of what the subject was about.

If we can keep ourselves pulled together we laugh everyday over what we think we heard, but there are those days when it is purely frustrating and embarrassing. 

Last week I was playing golf at Shangri la with younger friends, who can still hear and see the golf ball in flight. After a few beers in the clubhouse we were asked and challenged to go to the cliff side and play "Dot Ball." Asking for an explanation, they said that we'd hit golf balls (some old ones they'd brought from home) to the dot in the water below. Well why not, my dad would have jumped in this crazy idea and my partner couldn't resist the challenge. Off we go in a train of golf carts heading over to the cliff view behind the par three hole #13. All the while, my mind is spinning as to how they get a "Dot" to float in the same place on Grand Lake. 

My embarrassment called for another beer and laughter from deep within my soul. They were talking about a "Dock" that floats below. People shoot to this spot for fun and maybe practice.  It is about a 60 yard shot with a fantastic view. I didn't win my money back but I at least hit the dock, not the dot, twice. 

Next week we both have appointments with an audiologist and Ear, Nose, Throat specialist, just in case it is allergies causing the hearing loss instead of aging.  After all,  scientists have proven that we can't stop the aging process!!!!

Today, I recommitted to my regular workout with a trainer at the gym, but first I walked 4,000 steps in the cool morning breezes with the dog. My body is thrilled when the workout is over, and usually it feels better. I think a balanced workout improves my attitude, my posture, and works out some kinks in my muscles and nerves. The problem comes when my mind believes totally that I can do anything. Of course, I then spent an hour working in the garden, putting in sweat equity in preparation for fall and planning some strategic moves of my plants. 

By afternoon I was too tired to write. I love my naps. 

Oh, I almost forgot. We had a kidnapping in the neighborhood this weekend. It was really quite intense, luckily after several hours the boy woke up. 

PS Give my sister, Jonya and her husband Bill, credit for the kidnapping story. 

Younger Longer with Confidence

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." Sir Edmund Hillary

The day came in my early 60's when I realized that golf would not be a sport I played till I aged because of my crooked spine.  The thought of giving up mornings filled with fresh air on a golf course, birds flying by, clouds rolling over, and the echo of friends laughing broke my spirit. My husband took me by the hand and said, "I think we can both take up fishing and it won't hurt our backs."  The smile of relief is hard to describe without a few tears falling. Just like that I could see a future.

"A naughty pickle is how I best describe myself. 

I think fun and laughter is the whole point of life." 

Celia Imrie

I bought fishing poles at a silent auction, proudly brought them home and promptly put them in the garage next to my golf clubs. The fishing poles are still in the garage, but some inner drive moved me to continue golf. Luckily, I took up yoga and Pilates gaining strength and flexibility over the next two years. When I played in tournaments I played with new zeal,  knowing each round could be my last.

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them." Michael Jordan 

During the fall of 2013 I pulled my right hamstring causing pain in my lower back, but thinking I could overcome I continued to push. During January-February of 2014 we packed all of our belongings, hired a moving company and moved from Hutchinson, KS to Norman, OK. I hurt so much I cried when I bent over, walked, slept, or sat down. I still played golf because this ugly voice in my head said that I could play through the pain, after all physical therapy would allow me relief. 

For the next four years I enjoyed intermittent relief from my back pain, and discovered that over the years many of my "butt" muscles no longer responded to my body movement. Atrophy is the word that describes what happens when muscles aren't used. By now my brains screamed, "How could my muscles atrophy when I worked them constantly?" The answer is, "a different set of muscles take over, and that does not mean it's a good thing." Most of all don't play through pain, fix it. Last fall I realized that my golf swing had become that of a little old lady. There was no power at impact. I felt limp and shrunken. New clubs couldn't help that. 

"I am not a has-been. I am a will be." Lauren Bacall

Besides having lost strength, power, endurance, I lost confidence. I lost a bucket load of confidence. When I came to a water hole on the golf course I found myself playing around it, instead of daring to fly a ball over it. Secretly, I cried. Openly, I smiled and said, "At least I'm still playing and this is a good thing." 

Go for it, or layup? OU golf course hole 13.

I accepted that my body and I were getting older together. Like watching our dog, Lucy, turn grey in the face, unable to hear voices, and walk with a left hip that sometimes drags or pinches her, I could feel a slower future coming.   

The difference between impossible and possible lies

 in a person's determination." Tommy Lasorda

The dead of winter is just that for my body. I tend to hibernate and write. January of this year a deep yearning and stirring came through me when I decided to write a monthly blog called YOUNGER LONGER. I believe deeply in myself and my fortitude.  It forced me out of the house and into Therapy in Motion (Cindy Merrick).  After four months of muscle by muscle being released and activated I knew I could play golf successfully again. WRONG! 

The Greatest Video Ever, Gary Woodland and Amy Bockerstette

I promise a smile that will never leave your face after watching this. 

Many bad habits had been created in these last few years and I felt stymied. I know the game inside and out and yet for all of my strength, stamina, and grit I could not improve my game. My scores ranged from 96--88. Thanks to a vigorous workout routine that I still follow five days a week, plus play golf in this heat, I knew that could swing the club with power. In one simple golf lesson with our pro, Alan Hager, I relief flow through my body. Darn those weak lazy hands and arms. Once I began to use strong firm arms at impact the ball went straight and farther, and best of all I felt my old dynamic swing return. Alan also adjusted my driver to a 9.5 face (more upright) giving me a chance to see that tiny white (sometime pink) ball roll down the fairway.

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.      e e cummings

Feeling the groove return I drove out to OU golf facility to practice, and it paid off with a victory. The confidence to know I can better take care of myself, through continued training and practice will continue, only if i continue to workout. 

Having confidence is showing confidence and acting on confidence. When there is no confidence on the journey life looks bleak.  Letty Stapp Watt