This is the third in a 5-part series encouraging women over 50 to feel fabulous about their life and especially, their age. Click on the links to read the Day 1 post Celebrate Your Expertise and the Day 2 Post Show Up and Stand Out.
To feel great about life at this age you gotta appreciate your body, exactly the way it is. Your body is awesome. In fact, it’s a freaking miracle. Think of all it that is does for you every day—the pleasure, the experiences, the independence it gives you! You and your body are ride-or-die BFFs in the game of life and it’s time to celebrate this amazing aspect of you. Put away any negative, judgy thoughts about your bod and start loving it up. All you have to do is focus on what your body does instead of how it looks.
I know you have issues with your body, we all do. Maybe you have headaches or night sweats or digestive problems. Maybe you’ve pulled a muscle doing something ridiculously simple, like tweaking an oblique when lying down (that’s me). Maybe you’ve grown a few new chin hairs or packed some extra pounds around your waist (also me). You probably can’t see as well or run that 5K like you used to (me, me). You may feel old and fat and exhausted and lackluster—like this comic I drew in an art class a few years ago.
Whatever condition you’re suffering from, I’m here to tell you—your body deserves your deepest admiration and respect. After all, your one and only body is how you experience life’s deepest pleasures. Holding a grandchild, watching a gorgeous sunrise, hiking through a forest, savoring a gourmet meal, taking a delicious nap, orgasms! And it will never be as young as it is today.
The best way to feel awesome about your body is to move it, and the easiest way to do that is to take a walk (if you are able). So that’s the assignment today. Leave your phone at home, dress for the weather and go for a good long stroll all by yourself. As you walk, notice what you’re doing. Feel the rhythm of your stride as you put one foot in front of the other. Enjoy the swaying of your hips, the swinging of your arms. Fill your lungs with deep breaths of fresh air as you go. Isn’t it amazing how your heart pumps the oxygen from that one breath through your whole body? The breeze on your skin, the sunlight slanting through the trees, the sound of birds singing—all these sensations brought to you from your capable body.
When we were kids, we fully inhabited our bodies. We weren’t self-conscious about how we looked. This stage of life is an opportunity to get back to that free state of natural enjoyment in what we can do and how we feel. And, after enjoying your walk, if you really want to challenge yourself, spend a day naked like I did!
Here are the first two parts in this series, and I’ll post Day 4 on Monday, so please check back.
Fully Fabulous 
This is great advice Marjie! I was skiing last week in Colorado and was so grateful to my body for being able to do it. I’m going to try to adjust my body self talk!
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Exactly what I’m talking about Tricia! The exhilaration of skiing must have felt amazing! Kudos to you.
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