When we reach a certain age, we tend to wake up stiff every morning. Stretching becomes our watchword. Yoga straps, yoga blocks, side bends, and oh those hamstrings! There’s no such thing as too many stretches. It’s an endless chore. But if ignored there’s a price to pay. Reach wrong for that bag of groceries and you could be in pain for six weeks!
Not fair at all. This growing old thing. We keep up with our flexibility maintenance because this stage of life demands it.
But what about our emotional flexibility? Are we able to let things roll off our stretched-out backs? Or do we hold on to resentments, and hurt feelings from what we heard someone say about us?
Walking away from bad emotions is easier said than done sometimes. Yet it is the healthiest thing.
Believe me, I know this better than anyone! When I was a child my mother literally wrote in my baby book, “Diane is soft-hearted.”
Wow.
As a child that was not as big of a deal. It was part of growing up and becoming resilient. Now at my age, and after many years of practice, I am able to let things go. I am not a “dweller.”
I don’t want every little thing to irk me endlessly. Because most of those are things I can’t do anything about!
Change someone’s opinion of me? Lost cause. Defend myself when someone in a bad mood calls to tell me all the ways I annoy them? Life’s too short. I let that stuff roll off my back. I want to enjoy my life and that includes emotional flexibility. This is not justifying bad behavior. It’s realizing that bad behavior happens and I can hold a grudge for years or not.
It started with the fact that I live in Los Angeles. People here are the rudest, meanest drivers. A long time ago, I used to honk back at the honkers. No more. If someone is trying to cut me off, I smile and wave them in. I’d rather have the crazy guy in the Maverick in front of me than angrily riding my bumper on the freeway.
I stretch out those exasperated feelings. The equivalent of an emotional toe touch.
My days as a lady of a certain age who is often not respected in this world have taught me letting it go brings me the most peace.
We all go through major life transitions when relationships end… Through this website, I will share my thoughts as I walk the path of “New-Self” discovery. It doesn’t matter which side of 50 you are on. The real question is, Are you ready to live life? To forge a Path of Your Own Making (For a change!)? Then stop dwelling over the What-Might-Have-Beens and join me. Share your thoughts here, comment on mine, and let’s do this together!