During the past few days I have spent time with two women in their 70s--Bev and Carol. The first is a long-time friend, the other a massage client. Both are amazing gals and both look great. Bev recently spurned a 50-year-old lover, a man who is a quarter of a century her junior. Carol looks like she could be in her mid-50s. So what's their secret?
The answer is that both Bev and Carol don't let things bother them, and they don't dwell on the past. I am convinced that this attitude keeps them young.
Bev has been asked at various times in her life, "Aren't you insulted by what that person said to you? Aren't you hurt by what that person did to you?" She brushes such comments off as if they were specks of dust and says, "Maybe I should be upset, but I'm not. I don't have time to be upset. I've got too many other things to do."
And indeed she does. She's juggling a few guys, besides still working as a massage therapist. She lifts weights and takes long walks at the Newport Back Bay. She's active in a few churches that run the gamut from evangelical Christian to Science of Mind. She's also fascinated with Judaism and takes classes in alternative healing. Whew!
Carol, too, is very present-oriented. She is constantly going--golfing a few times a week, walking several miles with her friends each day, volunteering, attending concerts and plays, spending time with her boyfriend. She outright admits, "I have no interest in the past."
I have a great admiration for both these ladies, who have found the secret of youth--a positive, present-oriented attitude that allows no time for wallowing over past injustices.
Whenever I find myself rehashing what someone said or did or what I said or did or didn't say or didn't do, I need to give myself a good, hard slap and say, "I don't have time for this! It'll only give me more wrinkles!"
