The inevitable has happened to me – the thing that I swore would never happen to me – the NEED for reading glasses.

Most of my good friends are a little bit older than me, and back in the day when we would go out to dinner,  I would look in amazement as they rooted around for their glasses in their purses in order to read a menu.  I thought “how ridiculous” – just get stronger contacts. I swore this would never happen to me,  but  alas, it has.

I am dependent on my reading glasses, to the point that I cannot hardly see the food I am eating  without them.  Grabbing a necklace out of my jewelry box is not what it used to be – I can barely see the clasp.  Without my “cheaters”, I cannot read, see what tune my iPod is playing, cook, use my phone, use my home and work computer – in other words, barely function. My reading glasses are my staple in life, the butter to my bread, my window to the world.

Sound dramatic?  I kid you not – try not being able to see anything.  During medieval times, people with poor eyesight were often regarded as  village idiots. Although often very intelligent, people with poor eyesight were useless at performing simple tasks that even the very unintelligent could easily carry out.  I’m so glad that’s not now.

Being forced to account for my reading glasses in order to function places a bit of stress on my life.  They are the first things I pack and I buy them as often as toilet paper. I do have a tendency to misplace them in every room in my home and usually on the way to the coffee maker at work.   My family and my co-workers usually hear on a daily basis “Where did I put my reading glasses?”

Given this dire need for visual aids and being somewhat of a fashionista, I do wish the selection was a bit better than the usual “Top 9 Cartoon Characters with Glasses” collection.

Here is my latest purchase:

Sexy huh?   Well, along with the need for these little items come the need to repair them, as the $12.99 pair that I purchase tends to fall apart easily.  I carry a handy dandy repair kit in my purse at all times – they run about $4 and include a teeny tiny screwdriver and some spare screws – a lifesaver!

Who would think I would be blogging about the need for reading glasses?  It’s just part of the 50’s thing we all have going on.  Oh well, it keeps life interesting and honestly, I have never appreciated the beauty of sight more than I do now!

So my friend’s daughter started a blog.  She is a twenty-something and it’s an excellent blog, however the  tone seems to be – where will my future take me?  Am I where I am supposed to be?  Why aren’t more things happening to me?  I remember having those thoughts and feelings at that age, especially about the future.

I have found, at least for me, that at this stage of my life, I am not wondering about what the future will bring as much as figuring out what to bring to my life right now.  I realize the value of time, and although I’m not one foot away from the grave, my options, along with everyone else’s, become slimmer with age.  

Along with this realization comes this uncanny comfortability with doling out the advice.  Mind you I’m not a regular  “Dear Abby”, but when being asked to help a friend, a daughter, a co-worker or even a spouse in a “crisis” mode,  dispensing advice rolls off the tongue a little sweeter as you age because you have the experience to back it up.   

Take children, for example.  Although my three daughters are accomplished women both professionally and personally, they have moments, as do us all, when realizing this can be another story.  When being asked for advice with a particular situation they might find themselves in,  I put myself in their shoes, and I remember being their age, and what that felt like.  Along with this comes the ability to step out of that situation, and I know this sounds trite, but to be able to say “It’s all going to be OK”.  With age comes the realization of the value of standing up for yourself, taking care of yourself, cutting the crap and the emotion and the drama and taking an objective look at the situation and owning up to your own life.  It’s the “hovering” technique – hover above yourself and watch yourself as if in a movie.  Then ask yourself – what would I do in that situation? I know, easy for me to say, but it’s true!

I do have a caveat to these little gems that I have been throwing out there.  Although I feel confident giving advice because I truly feel right about the advice I give, me taking that advice and applying it towards my life is another story – but that is just a little something else I am working on 🙂

OK – Pilates is trendy – right?  I am proud to say I have been doing Pilates for the past 8 years.  My middle daughter is a professional ballerina and she got me going on it.

About 10 years ago, I was happily running my 35 miles per week, pounding away  on the pavement and thinking – I can do this forever.  I had no patience for my older siblings who were popping vitamins, glucosamine tablets, and complaining about aches and pains.  I really was certain that all that would never happen to me.  Low and behold, a few years later, my back started to hurt  – my lower back especially.   My daughter encouraged me to go to Pilates to help with my back and I thought – OK, I’ll give this a whirl but it will be so easy for me because I am in such great shape.  WRONG!!  I crawled out of that class with the realization that in all the years of running I was doing nothing for my core, the portion of my body that actually  holds me up.  I noticed throughout that first Pilates class that I had absolutely zero core strength or back strength.  My lower back was a train wreck – I had no ability to do back extensions at all.

LIGHT BULB – I needed to stick with this.  I found the more I did Pilates, the stronger I got and my back felt better.  I gave up the running.  I have never been happier.   I saw no need to punish my body any further with consistent pavement pounding. Pilates led to Yoga and between the two, I am a  contented early 50-year-old (at least with the exercise portion of my life.)

What does this have to do with 50?  Realization – that’s what.  You can deny that these things will happen to you – that your body won’t break down and start to show some wear and tear – but it does.  It’s just a fact of life and yes, of that dreaded word, aging.

You wonder – Pilates – how to begin?  What gym do I go to?  How expensive are the classes?    I’m going to post my first link on my blog – this Pilates class comes highly recommended by my Pilates friends and it’s free.  It’s POP Pilates on YouTube, brought to you by Cassey –  an ongoing series of Pilates classes that you can do in the privacy of your own home.  You will become hooked.
My only advice is to go slow – you do want to be able to move the morning after your first workout!