by Barbara Berkeley, MD
It has been a long time since I blogged here. I hope you are still out there working on staying healthy and finding your own way to reach your goals. I know how frustrating it can be and I know you sometimes wonder if it's all worth it. Let me assure you that it is.
Things in my life have changed. In November, I became a grandmother for the first time and in December I decided to sell my medical practice to my business partner and set out on a more flexible path. My intention was never to retire but instead to find a more creative way to be. I wanted to continue to write, perhaps to get speaking engagements, and to see patients privately rather than in an office setting. I wanted to explore online counseling and phone counseling and other ways of reaching people that did not involve physical office space.
And then something unexpected happened. After deciding to take a month or two off, I found myself with alot of time on my hands...a new feeling. A year ago I had participated in a local Dancing with the Stars, a contest for non-dancers which pairs you up with a dance teacher and gives you 8 weeks to learn a routine. I enjoyed it alot and had continued dancing after it was over but with no real goal in mind. Then, just as I was sitting idle, I saw a Facebook post looking for physicians to participate in a Dancing with the Doctors competition. The timing was perfect and I decided to do it.
When you enter these contests, you are assigned a dance pro and generally you wind up doing whatever dance he or she feels suits you best. You could wind up doing a cha cha, a waltz, a tango...whatever. As it turns out, I had become addicted to salsa dancing after my initial dance experience. And as incredible luck would have it, the pro assigned to me was a salsa dancer. And not just any dancer, but a past national champion. We went on to win the doctors' competition and after that, to train for a much more challenging competition in Mexico. That is where I am right now, getting ready to compete tomorrow. Yes, I was lucky to have this all happen. But because I had kept myself at a good weight and in good health, I was in the position to go for it.
What does any of this have to do with you?
This experience has crystallized something for me. It is easy to give up on our goals for health. We are surrounded by people who have done just that and who encourage us to join them. The world of food is so overwhelming, it's easier to just give in. And we may wonder, why do all this work when everyone else seems to be happy being twenty or more pounds too heavy. That seems to be the new American norm.
I think the answer is this. If we keep ourselves healthy, fit and at a lean weight, we open up the world. And we are ready to move if something incredible falls into our path. At any age, being really healthy means that you can grab for so much more. And if your goals are less anxiety provoking than dancing competitively, you will still be more than ready to meet them. You will garden better, walk better, play better golf, lift your kids and grandkids with more ease and.... you will age better and more slowly.
When I look around me, I see that people my age are spending alot of time going out to eat, going to the movies, and talking about their ailments. Talking about their ailments is a big one! They are certain that the aging process has made it impossible for them to do what they used to do and utterly positive that they are unable to take on anything new. No one appears to challenge this assumption. I'm telling you that it doesn't have to be that way. Lose weight, get fit, make it your passion and then set out to conquer the world.