August 3, 2016
A smile-filled rebuttal of ageism
I’m sitting here with a smile on my face after watching a 90 year old woman perform on America’s Got Talent — on You Tube.
If you’re worried that maybe you’re getting old and set in your ways, watching this video will be a great tonic. If you don’t like being ageist but old people seem so, well, OLD and predictable — this will sure give you a different perspective on what’s possible.
And what the heck – just watch it because it’s a bit outrageous and totally fun:
http://www.upworthy.com/watch-this-90-year-old-woman-give-the-performance-of-a-lifetime-on-national-tv?c=reccon3
Yesterday I ordered a book entitled: Aging or Ageless: Rising Like a Phoenix from the Myth of Aging by Ron Zeller, a Landmark Forum leader who died recently at age 83. It’s a book about transcending aging that doesn’t focus on how to stop aging but instead on how to be “ageless” in the face of any circumstance you face. Ron Zeller got his first diagnosis of terminal cancer at age 60 (which he beat), and his second at nearly 80. In the 20 years in between, he kept on transforming people’s lives by leading courses for Landmark while taking his health and vitality up to an entirely new level as an endurance athlete. At the age of 64, he ran and won his age division in the 100-mile Wasatch Endurance Race in Utah, one of the most demanding ultra-marathons in the world — the first of many races he ran in places all over the world. In 2004 Ron took up power lifting and by the age of 72 had had broken three US national records for his age. As recently as age 77 he completed the 135 mile Bad Water desert endurance race, running solo between the lowest and highest points in the continental United States.
I wonder if that 90 year old woman on America’s Got Talent has read Ron’s book! Maybe she didn’t have to – because she sensed the secret to vitality on her own. When I have a minute, I’ll try to find out what happened to her afterwards. If you do, please let me know. And if I like Ron’s book, I’ll share it with you.