Home | A Quirky Life

The Rise of the Octogenarian

Sep 27, 2021

In keeping with the theme of it’s never too late, today I took a look at the octogenarians among us. We are a powerful lot: politicians and activists. Still very active. I’ve included the president of the United States because he will be joining us soon.

Nancy Pelosi 81

Chuck Grassley 88

Bernie Sanders 80

Gloria Steinem 88

Jane Fonda 83

Joe Biden 78

Rings Starr 81

Why, you say, am I telling you this? It’s really for myself. I am reminding myself that it really is never too late. I had resisted making five year plans and goals because it did seem too late. There is a joke about being too old to buy green bananas and many more jokes like it. Now we know:

Make the plan!

Yes, pandemic has interfered with some of our plans. Most travel has been postponed and we aren’t planning big parties. However, we can still plan. What have you wanted to do but felt it was too late? You’re too old? My purpose here is to prove you wrong. Actually, the purpose is to prove it to myself.

River cruise, white water rafting, China? Been there. Mountain climbing, safari, Antarctica? Not for me. I guess I have to admit I’ve had a pretty full life after all. So what’s next? Here’s my list:

Iceland (October)
Road Scholar adventure
Cooking in Italy with friends
Outdoor concerts
A beach retreat with friends

I’m sure the list will get longer. I may start a journal page for the bucket list.

Here is my challenge to you. Sit for a while and think about what you want to do in your future, be it next week, next year or the elusive someday.

Eighty Years Plus One Day

Sep 23, 2021

Does it feel different? Of course not. Why do we think we will wake up the next morning and everything will be different?

The pandemic is still raging with Delta variant our latest cause for concern

Climate change is still real

Forest fires are still cause for concern

Some people still think the former President is still president

We are more politically polarized than I can ever remember

There are still anti Vaxers and anti maskers

White supremesists still roam the land

And yet we continue on.

I still have a wonderful water view, good health, a great family, a supportive community, many friends, a thriving business and a great hairdresser.

Do I have a secret to health and happiness? Nope.

Have I learned how to be more productive? Nope

Do I still have times of depression? Yup

And yet I continue on.

What are some tactics that help?

Gratitude practice/morning practice

This may be the single most important thing I do to keep it all together. For a while I was listing six gratitudes every day on Facebook. Six. Don’t stop at five. Sometimes I write in a journal, at this time I am trying out a digital diary/planner. I am not sure if that will be my go to. I’ve had some frustrations with my work disappearing and other technical details. A paper notebook is good but I cannot read my handwriting and I don’t always have the journal with me. On my desk I currently have:

Bullet Journal
Miracle Morning
Five minute journal
Elisi (a digital planner)

I seem to be using a combination of all. Maybe that’s OK

Exercise

I’ve heard that helps, I say somewhat jokingly. I try to walk every day. Emphasis on the try. I am so proud of my daughter who has achieved a mile a day for 116 days. I’m not there yet. I do go to Pilates twice a week and a physical therapist once a week. My understanding is we need to just keep moving the body.

Brain Health

According to Sanjay Gupta in his book Stay Strong, the most important thing you can do for your brain is exercise. Doesn’t take a lot but get that heart rate up several times a day.

I am also convinced that those of us who continue our work beyond “retirement” maintain better brain health.

Have Young Friends

This may seem to be counterintuitive. Don’t you want to have older friends so you look younger by comparison? I don’t think so. My younger friends keep me current and relevant. There may be a lot of reasons my friends are younger. I’m not opposed to having older friends but I just don’t. I won’t wear old lady shoes but I do seem to have some leisure suits that scream Golden Girls.

Stay current

It really bothers me when people tell me they never read the news. Have you heard the saying “those who refuse to learn history are condemned to repeat it?” Head in the sand won’t solve the problems I opened with above. There are people working on solutions. Support those people if you can’t be one of then yourself. But don’t ignore them.

And those are my observations of the day after. Stay tuned for more.

It’s never too late-Or is it?

Sep 22, 2021

I have subtitled this blog Live your best life at any Age —it is never too late. Do you really believe this? Do I? Is it truly never too late? I started this blog as an inspiration to others, and myself, that it truly is never too late. I started it as I turned seventy. I went to law school at 50, started my own practice at 55 and then relocated and started over at 60. I did that. I wanted to keep that theme. For my seventieth birthday I did my “grand adventure”—20 days down the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon in a dory. (A wooden boat designed after the boats John Wesley Powell used when he first explored the Colorado River). I restarted the blog a number of times. Sometimes I was very consistent and sometimes not. I used some of my blog posts as a basis for speeches. Again, inspirational and entertaining.

I work with women and men who are having to begin again after the dissolution of their marriage. I always try to encourage them and show them that there truly is a new life for them. It is not too late to begin again. It is important that I believe that in order to be genuine and believable for them.

September last year (2020) I had to acknowledge that it would be my last year in my seventies. It was time to blog about saying good by to 70. I thought my 79^th birthday was a good time to start. Only I didn’t. Then there are those New Year resolutions. Of course, January of the last year of my seventies. That would be a good time to resume. Only I didn’t. Beginning of spring, Summer solstice, start of new school year, etc etc etc. would be a good time to start. Only I didn’t. I accepted an August 31 day challenge. The first three days I did. I then realized the prompts were all to build my business or sell something. I didn’t want to do that. I could have changed the prompts and continued the challenge. Only I didn’t. So here I am on the last day of being in my seventies (I know, I know, why do we count? Because we do).

Now it is truly time to put up or shut up. Is it truly never too late to begin again. I believe it is not. I collect stories of women (and men) who found it is never too late to begin again. I am finding stories of folks in the 80s 90s and even 100 who are active and involved. They have no problem beginning a new project of phase in their life.

Sometimes ritual helps. I just saged my home to get rid of all those bad vibes from the last year. Tomorrow I am going to a spa that scrubs all your dead skin off and the nourishes the new skin. I find that to be a wonderful metaphor. I am not sure what other rituals I will find—or invent. I say midnight tonight I turn (gasp) 80. I don’t know if that is true since I don’t know the actual time of my birth. My mother said I was born in a bomb shelter and she did not know if it was day or night. (Kiddies, for your history lesson, this was during the BIG war) So at midnight I may light a candle, or not. After all, 80 year olds don’t stay up that late.

I have had discussions with my web designer about the changes to the blog. Change the name? Not your grandmother’s 80 just does not have the same ring. She suggested the very original name of karinquirk.com. Sure does not roll off the tongue, does it. I made her keep the old URL just in case. And, of course, keep all the old posts. (Ten years worth, remember?) so when I am stuck I can just repurpose an old one. We also had a discussion about the picture of that birthday cake picture on the front page. I am so partial to it. Please don’t make me too modern.

I am committed to maintaining this. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly? Well more that yearly. I want to be ambitious but I want to be realistic. So I will start out daily but don’t hold me to it. After all, it is never too late to start again.

I am interested in your efforts to begin again. Are you living your best life at any age?