An Expansive Life

It's that time of year again ... I've just finished packing my car up and I'll be heading west by the time you get this bloggette. For the fifth year in a row I'm driving from Boston, Massachusetts to southern Oregon.

Even though I create several Monday Quotes in advance and I'm never sure which one will show up, this week's was right on target. I think my angels must have had a hand in picking it!

"Be willing to try new things and stretch your repertoires.

Let life expand until your done -- never contract"

As I was putting things together, I was thinking how different this trip will be from the first one. Mainly, I've learned how to better pack and not bring so much stuff! I also allow myself more time so that the trip doesn't feel like an endless stream of 12-hour days on the highways. I stop and visit family and friends and I pull over and stretch my legs more often. The route I usually take is becoming fairly familiar, but the first two years were a leap into the unknown. (The second year and ever since I've taken a different route from the first.)

My sons live on the east coast where I spend most of my time. My daughter lives on the west coast and I was tired of flying out and trying to cram a year's worth of visiting into 10 days or so. I decided to try something different. Now, I spend at least 2 months on the left coast with her.

As I'm getting older it feels like I'm becoming more adventurous. When someone says, "Oh, I can't believe you do [fill in the blank] 'at your age' ", my response is, "As far as I'm concerned, this is what people do 'at my age' ".

I'm concerned about people losing their physical mobility simply because they think they should with age. It seems to me that it starts in the mind, with limiting beliefs, and spreads to the body. How often have we seen an elderly person who has literally contracted into themselves and no longer even stands up straight?! It's as if the body gets the signal that the mind is sending about becoming restricted in what we can do. It saddens me that our culture fosters the acceptance of our "diminishing ability".

I've decided not to welcome this into my life and I reject it whenever possible. I believe that what I can do today, I can do tomorrow. I pack my suitcases and boxes and I haul them out to my car by myself. When I arrive in southern Oregon, one of the first things I'm going to do is check out a couple of fitness centers where I can sign up for free classes with my Silver Sneakers membership. I've been exploring changes in the food I eat for optimal nourishment and I have friends of all ages. I am willing to try new things and I intend to increase the scope of my life and continue to broaden my horizons. As Eleanor Roosevelt said:

"The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to

the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a

newer and richer experience."

This is what I wish for you.

Sparkles and Love,