Exercise in the Third Age

Once upon a time, I'd walk around 3 km to the nearest public transport to get to work and back (this doesn't include traipsing around during the day).

I took stairs rather than elevators and could bound up them two at a time.

Yoga workouts were more frequent and I followed my weekly exercise and meal plans my incredibly fit and active PT daughter designed for me.

Once my work contract expired I began the long road trip south crossing two State borders, and my fitness regime and level followed suit.

Four months later and back to where I started, the seams of my clothing are screaming, and I feel like a sloth. Remember Sid from the animation franchise Ice Age, or Flash from Zootopia?

Sloths keep movement to the absolute minimum, and so had I.

Living a Sparse Life Has Advantages

Living a sparse life has advantages.

It’s been one week since I temporarily moved up to the peninsula.

Here there is no television set, no washing machine, no dining table and no microwave. Because my current nomadic lifestyle requires me to travel light, I arrived with two suitcases, an inflatable double bed (thank you Aldi), a laptop, cameras and equipment, and a few bits and pieces.

But there is air conditioning – halleluiah.  Summer in Queensland is humid, it’s so humid makeup slides off my face if I leave the applying after 7.30 a.m., and everything sweats – and I mean everything. So I cannot thank the Hairy Goddess enough for blessing me with an apartment with air conditioning.

Cafe with ocean views = relaxation time

At first, the lack of TV was frustrating, but having a laptop, smartphone and Wi-Fi means I can live-stream my favourite TV show of the moment – NCIS, or watch short bursts of the news to keep me in the loop now that I’ve given Facebook away (oh the relief). Now I have more time to devote to Instagram.

After my first week, I found other things to keep me occupied such as exploring the area. Redcliffe Peninsula has cafes, restaurants, the ocean, boats, a relaxed holiday vibe, and an ocean breeze.

For me, daily walks along the foreshore keep me fit and happy especially as it involves having coffee afterwards - my kinda heaven.

This morning after walking 5.5 km along the foreshore, I enjoyed a flat white with soy and avocado on toast before the crowds arrived at the popular Sea, Salt and Vine cafe. The view, while overcast and gloomy, compliments of an approaching summer storm, was lovely from the open verandah, and with 85% humidity, the sea breeze is truly a gift from the gods.

Living a sparse life isn't for everyone but it's given me the freedom to move around unencumbered with 'stuff' while my 'house' remains in storage, and I find my path.

Living a sparse life definitely has advantages.

Till next post, it's time for a flat white with soy 😁

The Rear Vision Mirror

It's in books, music, and quotes - Never Look Back is a thing.

These three words supposedly eliminate feelings of regret for a bunch of reasons such as never look back because you're now on the trajectory of success. Or, never look back because heartache ripped your soul to shreds but look at you now - you are the epitome of success on fire.

Never look back is to move away from something (refer to above).

Like looking in a rear vision mirror, I looked back. I looked back on times where I believed I was happiest and by doing so, wasted years of my life.

On a recent road trip south of two State borders I spent weeks revisiting old haunts.

Who knew that instead of feelings of reconnection and all-encompassing love, I laid ghosts of the past to rest instead.

For decades my heart stored sweet memories of seasons past but upon my arrival at said old haunts I discovered the good time vibes were gone. Vanished. Nada. Those nostalgic feelings had disappeared.

After much thought and several mugs of flat-whites with soy, it dawned on me. I'd stored time-bites of happy memories and often referred to them keeping them alive resulting in years of out-of-date memories looping around my heart.

The reality was people had moved on or away, some were no longer here, some divorced others remarried and created new, happy memories.

The past is the past - never look back, keep moving forward

Through this monumental Aha moment I felt lighter, liberated, my heart stopped yearning for the impossible, and with that came hope for a fresh start into my Third Age.

The paradox is I then began the grieving process of having let go.

Seriously, life sucks sometimes but I dusted myself off, pulled up my britches and got on with it.

The old haunts no longer hold a particular interest to me but are simply places where I once occupied space and had a ripsnorting good time.

Now I'll get back to creating new memories and focus on what I have with special people in my life, and live life with purpose.

The past is the past - only look back if you're driving and checking traffic in a rear vision mirror.

Till next post, it's time for a flat white with soy 😀

Highly Commended Award

Brace yourselves people, here's a little photography self-promotion coming your way.

I've been plugging away at photography for a while and have come within a hairsbreadth to giving it away. I mean, how many rejection letters can one take and before the ROE aligns with the ROI?

Never mind, I take responsibility for my actions or lack thereof. I'm passionate about photography so giving up was always an idle threat.

And happy I persevered. I was recently awarded a Highly Commended Award from the Snap Happy TV on 10 Bold, for one of my Brisbane fog shots - such a thrill and honour - thank you, thank you.

When I entered this competition, I chose my photo (similar to the one below), wrote a short summary, hit send and concentrated on the next thing.

Foggy August  morning in Brisbane

Then the unexpected happened and I received a Highly Commended Award.

Keep at it folks, you never know when your efforts will come home to roost.

Till next post - go for gold I say, now it's time for a flat white with soy 👍

Cheers,

M 📷⛾