You’re How Many Years YOUNG?
Do you limit yourself unfairly because of age or other nonsense? Do you incorrectly think that just because you’ve been doing something for a very long time that you cannot change or improve? Say it just ain’t so!
Our contributor below is a petite, 50-something female, who has the courage to change and demonstrate why even “old” dogs can learn new tricks.
Finally, I made it!
I was recently training for my fourth-degree black belt test, and as I looked back over the years of training, I wondered if I was really ready. Of 13 total years of training, I’ve spent 9 years as a black-belt instructor and 7 years teaching Asian weaponry. I’ve won tournaments and endured various injuries over the years. The problem is that years have passed and I’m starting to feel the effects of age slowing my movements and reducing my speed and endurance. After all, I’m 50 years old now.
Then I realized that I was letting a cloud of negativity surround my thoughts, hopes and ambitions. So what did I do? I read my favorite meditation by Dr. O’Grady. I have Dr. O’Grady’s “Meditation for Success” on my desk to help me through difficult times at work, and I realized that I needed to apply these principles to my meditation and preparation for the test as well.
To be successful for this test meant being a real person and working through the difficulties, using everything that I had. I had to be brave and step out in the face of danger and uncertainty. I had to work through my nervousness and jitters. I had trained enough, I was skilled, and I was brave enough to do this. I had to be honest with myself and take into consideration my age and injuries, and then I had to make a decision concerning just how much I was willing to risk to complete this test. I’m 50, I’m human…BUT I’m the best I can be at 50 years old.
Anyway, I passed the test, and my grandmaster instructor commented on how rare it is for someone my age, and someone who had started out so late in life to study martial arts, to be so skilled and dedicated. I had to THINK success, LIVE success and BREATHE success for this to have happened…and it did!
So what do YOU think? Are you letting “a cloud of negativity surround YOUR thoughts, hopes and ambitions” because of age-limited thinking? Do you dare to be self-approving? Do you positively believe that “I’m 50…I’m human…BUT I’m the best I can be at 50 years old!”
It’s up to you. You can pump up your heart-mind with encouragers…or you can choose to listen to old negative tapes that stop your efforts before you really start rolling.