Which Old Woman Will I Be?
How will I age? Will I become set in my ways? or open to new things? grouchy? or interesting? loving? or resistent?
After being in a conversation recently where a person was adamant that they would never change I had to ask myself: “Will I grow into a person like that?”
It intrigued me; this idea of how we grow old. How do some people I know seem closed off and afraid while others are open and learning new things at 70, 80 and 90?
While talking this idea over with a friend, she recommended a book by a local author here in Illinois. Debbie Hensleigh has written a book called Which Old Woman Will You be?
As I read Debbie’s book, I was encouraged by her hopeful experiences with aging. Debbie challenges us not to compare, to refuse to be lonely, and be readers— just to name a few of the 7 steps to pursue as we age. If we were to divide our lives into thirds— birth to 30, 30-60 and 60-90, our “thirdthird” is our last third and shaped by who we work at becoming during our secondthird of life. Debbie lays out seven tips for growing into a person who is alive and happy in their thirdthird.
“As we age, we become more of who we’ve always been. Our future is beng determined by what we do in our present.”—Debbie Hensleigh
As I thought about depicting this idea of two old women I remembered these statues we observed at the Chicago Museum of Art. One was looking down, with her arms wrapped around her torso. The other was looking up and forward-expectantly— seeking.
Change is a natural and inevitable part of life. We can fight it and fear it and avoid it at all costs, but change happens whether we want it or not! The more we close ourselves up to the world around us and work to protect our comfort zones we miss out on experiencing our environments and surroundings as they ebb and flow around us.
So which old woman (or man) will we be? One who is afraid of change or one seeking to expand our perspectives and open to new things?
I highly recommend getting a copy of Debbie’s book if this idea of aging interests you! Each chapter is short and quite practical in guiding and encouraging us be intentional in our quest of the old women we wish to become!
