Don’t Let Your Age Stop You!

Many of life’s opportunities are blocked because people are age-conscious. They haven’t learned that age has little to do with success; one can do great things at any age but only if there is a positive attitude. If you believe that you can’t do a certain thing because of your age, you will miss a lot in life.

 All our lives and in all things, our attitude plays an important role. The outcome of every action relies on what we think and believe. Too many who are my age have shut down their lives and are sitting somewhere dwelling on their aches and pains and literally waiting to die. Of course their physical and mental states must be considered. I am speaking of those who are in fairly good health but refuse to get involved in any activity. Their usual response at any suggestion is, “I’m too old for that.”

They won’t volunteer to help an organization, they don’t read books or enroll for local classes to learn more about any subject of interest. They refuse to participate in any local program. One thing they will do is watch  soap operas. When the program ends, so does their day. Current news is not for them. This schedule repeats itself each day and their days are boring, even to them. What they don’t realize is that only they can make their days better; dare to try!

When I shared that I was going to visit a friend in Italy for four weeks, you should have heard the negative comments!  “You’re foolish to make that trip at 80 years old!”; “You’re going alone? That is ridiculous!”; “What if you get sick?”; “I can’t believe you will go on a trip that far!”

Well, yes I did and I had a wonderful time! I am so glad that their negative attitudes did not rob me of the fun and new experiences that I had. My friend and I went to Portofino for the day, enjoyed lunch and a bit of shopping; we went to Stresa and stayed overnight on Pescatori Island, the smallest of three islands in the area. I didn’t have access to a computer so that was a sad thing for me but I adjusted to the fact. 
I enjoyed new foods, met new people, spent time brushing up on my Italian, and was able to communicate with many who spoke no English. I might not speak as fast as they do but what do you expect from a woman raised in the south?

Italy could well be called the land of flowers; I saw more beautiful flowers than in a long time. I recognized many blossoms as well as many trees that we have in Alabama and Florida. These included weeping willows, magnolias (in bloom), fig, cedar, sweet gum, and pines.

I’ve been friends with this lady for forty years; I knew her PaPa, (he was a classical guitarist), MaMa, sister Luciana and brother Aldo, who was the most talented pianist I’ve ever known. All of them are gone now so she welcomed me on this, my fifth trip to her home, with great joy.

Getting older can be  fun when you don’t allow your age to get in the way and you dare to live!

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