I watched Raquel Welch on Oprah today. I know, I know, I watched Oprah. Sue me. Anyway, The 69-year-old Ms. Welch looks better than most of us ever did at 25 and while she admits it takes three hours for her to look that good, she also said that as we age women either give up or get in the game. Is that what happens? Do we just give up at a certain point, deciding that this is the body we’re stuck with, the limp hair we were born with and the face we can’t get rid of? I don’t want to give up, but I also cringe at the thought of spending three hours to get ready whenever I leave my house.
It’s true that Ms. Welch was born a bombshell and nothing short of a bomb actually detonating on her face will make her less than gorgeous at any age, but still, there’s a lesson in there for the rest of us. How many times do you hear that your teen years are the best of your life or that it’s “all downhill from here.” The “here” being any time after you hit 35. Well I don’t want to be old, but I know I can’t stay young.
Each day we have an opportunity, a chance to remake who we are. It may be too late to unburn some bridges or save some lost relationships, but it’s never too late to start nourishing ourselves inside and out. Eating well, exercising your body, limiting sun exposure can all help to improve your body, but what’s the point of taking care of the temple if no one’s home. We need to exercise our minds as well. Read, learn, try something new, debate, or get involved in a cause you believe in.
I don’t want to ride the bench, I’m a get in the game kind of girl and if that means some extra effort to stay in shape, keep mentally sharp and spend another hour to look pretty, then I’ll do it. I’m never going to come close to looking like a Raquel Welch, but one of the most attractive things about her isn’t that body or face, it’s her attitude. She’s a woman who’s lived life and she knows who she is and what she’s about. She’s definitely in the game and that is sexy at any age.
i have done a shitload of searching on this subject, so let me provide some some insight so you won't have to spend nearly as much money as i have had to.
ReplyDeletefirst of all i want to point out something that may be anti-intuitive until one thinks about it. physical exercise is a brain activity. balance and motor control are between your ears and sharpening these "skills" is beneficial to overall brain health. i'm sure mommyville can expound on the benefits of yoga, i however prefer tai chi (sun style or yang style). qigong (aka. chi kung) is another option that falls kind of between the two. low impact is the key to not wearing out your parts.
you've began to eat right but if you start to slip and need to be scared straight i recommend...
-nutrition
"don't eat this book"- spurlock
"the china study"- campbell
a great way to "feel the burn" in those brain muscles is to study the brain its self.
-psychology
*"how to think like leonardo davinci"- gelb
"emotional intelligence" and
"social intelligence"- goleman
"the owners manual for the brain"- howard
another area of interest for me and where you may be surprised at the useful tidbits of applicable knowledge you can pick up is...
-physics
*"physics for future presidents"- muller
"the universe in a single atom"- dalai lama
"death by black hole"- tyson
applicable to both politics and shopping is...
-economics
*"freakonomics"- levitt, and dubner
"basic economics"- sowell
learning another language and culture opens the mind in ways impossible to describe. these two books are full of helpful info on how to choose a language and why, and brilliant ways to make studying easier and more effective. you should buy both as they somehow keep from giving the same suggestions. if you decide to learn a language you should buy these before ANYTHING else.
-foreign language
*"the quick and dirty guide to learning languages fast"- hawke
*"how to learn any language"- farber
studies show that the ability to play an instrument greatly increases the amount of brain activity above when non musicians listen to music.
ReplyDelete-musical instrument
if there no instrument you've always wanted to play then the least expensive thing to do is buy a little keyboard. just learning simple chords and melodies is helpful.
-music appreciation
if you don't listen to jazz yet then i recommend...
*"blue trane"- john coltrane
"kind of blue"- miles davis
"40th birthday in rome"- ella fitzgerald
if you don't listen to 'classical' then i recommend...
*"Bach: The 6 Unaccompanied Cello Suites"- Yo-Yo Ma
"Beethoven: Favourite Piano Sonatas"-Vladimir Ashkenazy
and symphonies "5","7","8", or "9" by beethoven (anything on deutche grammophon),
pretty much anything by mozart, and
"Chopin: Favorite Piano Works" by Frederic Chopin and Vladimir Ashkenazy
in 'classical', it's really easy to find bargain bin stuff that is low quality so don't buy just whatever is cheap. look for great performers (ashkenazy, perlman, segovia)and conductors (bernstein, solti).
http://performancetoday.publicradio.org/
for general learning and appreciation.
-games,
pool- is applied geometry and spacial relations.
chess- can be very expensive, but if you want to learn to be pretty good...
*"bobby fischer teaches chess"- fischer
the chessmaster computer program has a shitload of tutorials and you will never beat its highest level.
sudoku- is also good for logical thinking. i've worked up to doing any difficulty level in pen.
it will sound crazy but one book that crosses categories...
"the inner game of tennis"- gallwey
* indicates the best place to start within each area, or go best with a 'single malt' in regards to music.
all these books and cd's can be bought USED for about half price on amazon.
please contact me if you have questions about anything i didn't make clear or cover.
bj