Grow some balls like Iris!
The fashion Icon Iris Apfel is a hugely inspirational woman, not only is she a truly talented artist but she also has that wonder, enthusiasm, optimism, curiosity and the excitement of living life that often only comes with youth. These are just some of the many great reasons why you might want to hang out with her, she says 'I don't have any rules because I would only be breaking them" We love a rebel attitude! she does not care what people think of her, she has never conformed to the rules of society. Iris has truly taken life by the balls and still living it up like she is still only 20!
We should never ever stop growing right up and beyond the age that Iris is now which is the ripe age of 95 which by the way, is the age many people are living to nowadays. We are living a much longer life than our ancestors, 40 used to be considered old and now 40 is the new young!. For this reason, it is extremely important to keep reinventing ourselves, not by having a focus on winning a prize for a game or a competition which is like 'the end result' but reinvention to open up ourselves to endless opportunities to continue to grow. If you aspire to reinventing yourself, you will remain interested and involved in your life which will make you healthier, happier and younger. The question is how can you expect any positive life changes to take place or experience achievement or fulfilment when you keep repeating the same old routine?!
"IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE, YOU WILL ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS GOT" so what you need to do is 'JUMP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND TRY SOMETHING NEW'!!
The problem is that we are creatures of habit with little or no desire to make changes or to try something new. As adults, we become so self conscious and take ourselves way too seriously. We often remain stuck on past childhood beliefs about ourselves that have been ingrained throughout life. 'Oh I am dreadful at Maths' 'I keep losing things' 'I can't cook' 'I have no rhythm' and the people who are close to us in our lives often highlight these points by saying things like 'lost your keys again'? which makes us actually believe those negative things we think about ourselves. As we get older, these life long beliefs become worse but if you are AWARE of this way of thinking now and you are ready and want to do something about it, YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO IT. There is such a thing in the brain called 'neuroplasticity', it is the brains ability to rewire itself to overcome those poor views about our abilities and the good news is that everyone is capable of changing a habit but it requires daily practice and a different way of self talking.
The only reason anyone gets good at anything in life is because they put in the hours and just repeat what they are learning again, again and again, for example, I have seen the most poorly co ordinated people with two left feet become excellent dancers because they had a strong desire to learn and become great....they kept on coming to dance class even when it was very difficult for them to follow. They would actually work harder than the more naturally talented dancers and they would often eventually surpass the experienced dancers in ability and level....
DEDICATION & PRACTICE AT ANYTHING WILL MAKE YOU BETTER so the point is, if you think you have no rhythm, just keep dancing and you will eventually find your own rhythm and enjoy it which of course is why we want to dance in the first place. It is vital to not put something off that you want to achieve or do in life because of the fear of failure, everyone has to start somewhere and you only get good at anything by taking action to the task. You can try something new at any age so stop putting limitations on yourself.
It is also a good idea to ignore the advice from magazines which preach what is stylish for you to wear in your 20's, 30's 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's...hey, wear whatever you like and once you have decided what to wear, work it! don't be scared of technology, just learn what you need to know on your iphone or computer to get by, you don't have to be a technology whizz kid. Most importantly, do anything that sounds like fun, challenging, interesting or different as this will be the first step for you to make some lifestyle changes.
Finally, lets work on some real inner beauty and soul by doing one thing this week that really awakens us and feels good, for example, dance like nobody is watching, laugh whenever possible and preferably with pals, wear something different with colour in it, change something small in your daily routine....there are no rules for you in this life so why not be more like Iris and GROW SOME BALLS!!!!!
