Schlepping

This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors reinvent themselves in this new stage of their lives called retirement. Her blog, public lecture, and new self-help book on senior reinvention are titled: Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire. Her memoir is: Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class. Synopses of her books follow her blog below. Both books are available at Amazon.com by clicking here and here. Her website is: LeeGaleGruen.com

Now, on to my blog:

Most of us schlep (Yiddish for drag or carry) lots of stuff to sustain us when we go out and about. The majority of animals simply forage for what they need. However, we humans, the highest form of animal life, must have our necessities immediately at hand. To that end, we have devised portable personal containers: purses, pockets, backpacks, briefcases, and the like as well as devices that strap to bodily appendages or hang from other appropriate parts.

This construction worker is hauling his own porta-potty lest he find himself on a job with nowhere to do his thing. It reminds me of when one of my grandchildren was a toddler and used to tow her potty chair from room to room. She would proceed to sit astride it in front of her audience so they could observe her wondrous deed and heap praise upon her.

Some years ago, a friend remarked that as she has aged, her makeup bag has gotten heavier and heavier. Each has their own priority of schlepables. If you ever visit an airport, you will see travelers carrying, pushing, or pulling numerous suitcases, all containing the urgent gear they can’t live without.

How the heartbeat quickens when you realize you’ve left your cell phone home, or worse, lost it. OTOH what a lovely vacation from the bondage imposed upon us by that infernal device.

How can we ease our lives and break the umbilical cord which binds us to our belongings? How do we divest rather than invest? In the olden days (ah, the glorious–or not-so-glorious–olden days), there just wasn’t as much stuff around, so folks did with less. Today, our stress level is accelerated just wrangling our material possessions.

What about the thought of actually taking a vacation not only from your job and home, but also from your paraphernalia? Are you man/woman enough to do it?

Plan a trip somewhere be it a few miles away or another country. Leave your technology behind: computer, cell phone, camera, and all the chargers, adaptors, and cords that must accompany them. Live for a while without being connected to everyone and everything. Take photos only in your mind. Pack the bare minimum. You don’t need numerous outfits for every occasion with the jewelry and shoes to go with them. Although hard to fathom, the world will carry on just fine without your input, and you can jump right back into the craziness upon your return.

Work toward simplification; stop buying new things; make do with what you have. Get rid of items which you rarely or never use whose only function is to occupy space. Ramp down that stress level. Take back your life!

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SYNOPSES OF BOOKS BY: LEE GALE GRUEN

Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy, Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire (self-help): Not a one-size-fits-all approach, this self-help book for retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors offers an individualized, detailed guide to assist readers in discovering activities and pursuits in this new stage of their lives called retirement, based on their own likes and comfort level. I learned the secret the hard way transitioning from retired probation officer to actress, author, public speaker, and blogger. Audience members at my lectures on senior reinvention requested a book on the subject. This is the result, and it contains the content of those talks and six years of posts from this blog. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class (memoir): After retiring at age 60 from my 37-year career as a probation officer, I mistakenly enrolled in an acting class for seniors.  A few weeks later, my mother died, and I invited my grieving, 85-year-old father to come to class with me.  This is the true story of our magical journey attending that class together for three years, bonding more than ever.  I wrote the comedy scenes we performed onstage twice a year in the acting class showcases, and all six scenes are included in the book.  I eventually transitioned into the world of professional acting.  As my fledgling, second career started going uphill, my dad’s health started going downhill.  I would recount to him each of my new experiences while I sat beside his bed at the nursing home where he resided in his final years. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

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Please forward my blog in its entirety to anyone who might be interested and post it on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts. To reprint any material, contact me for permission at: gowergulch@yahoo.com. If you want to be automatically notified when I post a new blog, click on the “Follow” button in the upper right corner of this page and fill in the information. To read my other blog posts, scroll down on this page or click on “Recent Posts” or “Archives” under the Follow button. To opt out of receiving this blog, contact me at the aforementioned email address, let me know, and I’ll remove you from the list.

Beware of Leg Lifts

This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors reinvent themselves in this new stage of their lives called retirement. Her blog, public lecture, and new self-help book on senior reinvention are titled: Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire. Her memoir is: Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class. Synopses of her books follow her blog below. Both books are available at Amazon.com by clicking here and here. Her website is: LeeGaleGruen.com

Now, on to my blog:

As I’ve written in this forum before, I hate it when my body doesn’t cooperate with my lifestyle. For the past five months, my lower back has been giving me grief. The worst part is that it’s my own fault. I keep forgetting I’m a senior. Pre-pandemic, I used to frequent the gym several times a week. However, I hadn’t done so for the previous 1.5+ years since the beginning of the Covid lockdown.

My motivation to exercise alone at home is limited; my workout mode functions best when surrounded by fellow sufferers. So, my former physical agility is a tad less agile.

After receiving science’s gift to mankind, the Covid vaccine, I allowed myself a little less caution. With trepidation, I returned to the gym albeit fully masked. While on the treadmill, someone mentioned that a Pilates class was starting soon. I had never attended Pilates before, so I figured, Why not?

I followed the others into an exercise room, grabbed a mat, and secured myself a spot on the floor. The revered instructor soon arrived, a tall, thin man with no visible body fat who appeared to be one-third my age and in great physical shape. He proceeded to maneuver his limbs into various positions. I, along with everyone else, mimicked him.

I was doing pretty well, I felt. I noticed that the woman next to me, who seemed closer to my age, was a real superstar. She had mentioned earlier that she did Pilates faithfully throughout the lockdown to keep herself from going insane. What can I say? Some practice Pilates and some write blogs.

After several exercises, Revered Instructor was soon supine (down on his mat lying on his back). Instantly, all class members assumed that position. After a variety of stretching machinations, R.I. lifted both his outstretched legs to a 45° angle and held them there. Superstar did the same followed by the others and, of course, by me. R.I. held that position while opening and closing his legs scissors-like. Superstar performed the same effortlessly. I, on the other hand, was groaning but determined. Finally, that particular torture ended, and I had survived. I was proud of myself.

Hey, I’ve still got what it takes, I thought smugly.

That night, I could barely move. My back was having none of my smugness. Its pain controlled me for the next five months, only releasing its grip gradually in minuscule increments.

Today, for the first time, I went on a hike in my favorite wilderness area near my retirement community. I have written about hiking in this area before. (Click here to read my blog of 3-31-20, “Out and About in the Time of Covid 19.”)

I have learned my lesson. As I’ve also said in this forum previously, not everything is for everyone. (Click here to read my blog of 10-18-21, “Not Everything is Everyone’s Thing.”) The “Supine Leg Raise”/hold at 45° is definitely not for me! Fortunately, my brain and fingers still work, so at least I can write, which I love. When one passion goes sideways, what is your “at least” option? We all have one. You may have to dig deep to find it, but it’s there.

Photo credit: mikecogh on VisualHunt

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SYNOPSES OF BOOKS BY: LEE GALE GRUEN

Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy, Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire (self-help): Not a one-size-fits-all approach, this self-help book for retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors offers an individualized, detailed guide to assist readers in discovering activities and pursuits in this new stage of their lives called retirement, based on their own likes and comfort level. I learned the secret the hard way transitioning from retired probation officer to actress, author, public speaker, and blogger. Audience members at my lectures on senior reinvention requested a book on the subject. This is the result, and it contains the content of those talks and six years of posts from this blog. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class (memoir): After retiring at age 60 from my 37-year career as a probation officer, I mistakenly enrolled in an acting class for seniors.  A few weeks later, my mother died, and I invited my grieving, 85-year-old father to come to class with me.  This is the true story of our magical journey attending that class together for three years, bonding more than ever.  I wrote the comedy scenes we performed onstage twice a year in the acting class showcases, and all six scenes are included in the book.  I eventually transitioned into the world of professional acting.  As my fledgling, second career started going uphill, my dad’s health started going downhill.  I would recount to him each of my new experiences while I sat beside his bed at the nursing home where he resided in his final years. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

***

Please forward my blog in its entirety to anyone who might be interested and post it on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts. To reprint any material, contact me for permission at: gowergulch@yahoo.com. If you want to be automatically notified when I post a new blog, click on the “Follow” button in the upper right corner of this page and fill in the information. To read my other blog posts, scroll down on this page or click on “Recent Posts” or “Archives” under the Follow button. To opt out of receiving this blog, contact me at the aforementioned email address, let me know, and I’ll remove you from the list.