Start Small
This week we received a number of messages from people who are having a hard time, struggling with how to transition careers, how to deal with changing bodies, how to manage the grief of losing loved ones. AGEIST has presented options for how to live by showing examples of people who have gone through a struggle or are wrestling with one. But these people have succeeded or have a plan for how to succeed; they are exceptional human beings. What about the person whose career has vaporized at 55 or the person who is so terrified about what to do they become paralyzed, unable to move forward believing they have nowhere to go — what about them?
One email I received this week told me that 50% of women in the UK over 50 can’t get up from a sofa without using their hands. This saddens me deeply, and if we at AGEIST can move the needle even slightly on this, it’s worth trying.
This is what I know.
Hard is not impossible.
Confusing these two leads to paralysis. Let’s embrace hard — but incrementally, as we are not used to it. Start small.
However much you have let your body go, you can begin to slowly rebuild it.
How to start? Walk. Just walk. Every day for 3 weeks walk 10,000 steps. How far is that? It’s about an hour and a half of brisk walking. Additional to my daily exercise routines, every night after dinner I walk for 45 minutes or so around my neighborhood. I listen to music, podcasts, or just enjoy the sounds of the neighborhood. Simple victory and I sleep better and feel better.
We have begun. You are so much stronger than you think you are.
