The Secret to Staying Youthful? Keep on trying new things…
Have you ever witnessed an activity and had the immediate thought—“I am too old for that?” or “I could never do that!”
I have.
But lately, those negative responses in my brain lead me to question myself. And that growth is something new and exciting for my 59 year old self!
I have decided to always fight the negative self talk with a question, because lately I have accomplished things I never dreamt I could. So when the self talk says “No you can’t!”
These were all things that might have intimidated me in the past.
Dawn Lantero
I have trained myself to say—“Why?” or “Why not give it a try?” And I have recognized that being able to list a few new experiences at the end of each year, is something that keeps my spirit youthful and my life exciting.
In 2018 my husband and I joined some friends for an organized event called RAGBRAI. RAGBRAI is a week-long bike ride across the state of Iowa.
Yes, ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE STATE OF IOWA! We dipped our rear bike tires in the Missouri River and a week later dipped our front tires in the Mississippi River. We trained for this event by logging many miles on our bike seats.
Had you told me a few years prior to this, that I could ride a bike for seven days and across an entire midwestern state, my response would have been “Hell No!”
But RAGBRAI taught me something. Something I have told my kids for years…they grew up hearing me say “YOU can do anything you put your mind to!”
RAGBRAI gave me the chance to prove that to myself—and after 57 years, I finally realized I was right all along!
When last year was coming to a close, I made a list of all of the new experiences I had benefitted from in that calendar year. I tried snowmobiling, I hiked in mountains, and skied powder.
These were all things that might have intimidated me in the past. So I firmly decided that trying new things was going to become my new, empowered norm.
Recently, my husband and I rented fat tire bikes and did a midwinter ride through the snowpack in a state park. It was a heavy duty workout. Even grueling at times.
I clearly remember the first time I saw someone riding on one of these, my thought was “That looks hard, I could never do that!”
But today, I did it. It was new, exciting and fun!
My goal for 2020 is to have another list of first time experiences. Life is for the living…so try new things and never listen to the voice that tells you to doubt yourself.
