I recently hit a milestone birthday — not quite 50, but close enough for me to wonder where all the time has gone. I think some of the changes in my body have made this especially apparent. I’ve had to invest in several pairs of readers because the font on everything is suddenly very, very tiny! And I have weird aches and pains. Did you know your thumbs could hurt? So, this got me thinking about what I might do to make my next few decades the best they can be. And what better place to look for this information than the stacks of my public library!
As we age, our bodies can’t do everything they once could, and that old adage of “use it or lose it” rings more and more true. Muscle mass shrinks, bone density starts dropping and aches and pains pop up in strange places. “Training for Your Old Lady Body: A Guide to Building Muscle and Mobility at Any Age” by Elizabeth Davies examines how weight training as we age can help us continue with our normal day-to-day activities. She includes a section of exercises you can start today to work towards a stronger body.
As I’ve noted, this middle-aged life has been a bit more painful than I realized it would be. And I’m not just talking about physical pain. I appreciate that I’m not alone in this experience, which is expertly captured by author Jen Mann in “Midlife Bites: Anyone Else Falling Apart, or Is It Just Me?”. Each chapter focuses on common issues middle-aged women face, including fluctuating hormones, changing relationships (both romantic and platonic), professional stresses and successes and the task of making the most of your remaining time. Mann’s writing is funny with a bit of bite and snark, while still managing to be heartfelt as she offers wisdom from her own lived experiences.
“The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly: Life Wisdom From Someone Who Will (Probably) Die Before You” by Margareta Magnusson also
offers perspectives on how we can live our best lives even as our bodies age and start to function less well. Magnusson, who is most well known for writing about Swedish death cleaning (the practice of clearing out your belongings before you die so your family does not have to deal with them) focuses on her own life and aging and the changes it has brought to her own mindset. She offers her sage wisdom wrapped up in a warm sense of humor, which I imagine helps make aging a bit easier.
At this stage of my life, it’s easy to believe that I’m probably beyond reaching some of my life’s dreams. But with a little bit of patience and perseverance, the sky is still the limit for many of my dreams. There are several folks who demonstrate just that with their own life stories. Jeff Hiller, the hilarious comic actor from “Somebody Somewhere” shares his life’s journey in “Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success.” He humorously details his breakout success in middle age after years of hard work and how it allowed him to come into his own. Diana Nyad is another example of never giving up even as you age. In her book “Find a Way,” Nyad details what went into her 111-mile swim from Cuba to Florida at age 64. One of the key things that came out of that swim was that it was a team effort. She couldn’t have done it without support and that’s something we should remember as we set out to new endeavors. It is okay to ask for and take help as we reach for our dreams.
Making our brains try new things can be a good challenge for building mental acuity as we age and I think reading poetry is one way to do that. Poetry can feel a bit alien when you usually read prose, but when it hits the right notes it can be quite eye-opening, which is the case with
Kate Baer’s examination of midlife in “How About Now.” She touches on aging, careers, motherhood, friendships, relationships, forgiveness and the flow of time through it all. Readers may find some of their secret innermost thoughts on the pages in Baer’s work, which can be disconcerting (how does someone know me so well?) and also comforting (so I’m not the only one who feels this way!).
Here’s to aging well!
