02/07/2024
Darren Holmes just reminded me of this post I wrote a long time ago, it applies TODAY as much as it did then ❤️
❓QUESTION OF THE DAY⁉️
🤔🤔Did you ever wonder how old you’d be…if you didn’t know how old you were? 🤔🤔
When I first read this question on a fridge magnet whilst away at a conference in San Fransisco a few years ago with my bestie Caroline, it got me really excited and I tried to put an age on myself, an age that maybe I thought I would be if I didn’t know how old I was.
A few years have passed since then, the magnet is still on my fridge and I STILL have not been able to identify the answer to the question. 🧐
It wasn’t until last weekend when I was sat outside enjoying some down time with my partner that it suddenly dawned upon me. I don’t know the answer to the question because actually, I have no idea what the question actually means! It doesn’t make sense. 🙋♀️
Does the question imply that, at a certain age/number, we are supposed to feel, act, behave and experience life in a certain way?❓ Therefore, depending upon how we act, think, feel and experience life, we should be able to come up with answer❓
Who says that at a certain age we should feel, behave, act and experience life in a particular way anyway?
For those of you who know me won’t be surprised to learn that this really got me thinking. This lead to quite an in depth discussion (poor Paul 😂) about how, much more often that not, when out on a sunny day with friends in a park or at the beach, it seems to be that the men are quite happy to pick up a football ⚽️ and ‘play’ (and why shouldn’t they, good on them!) while the women sit and talk. Of course this is not always the case, but in my experience it’s something that I see quite a lot. Why is this❓ At what point do girls suddenly stop playing?
Somewhere along the line between childhood and adulthood, a lot of women seem to lose the ‘playfulness’ that allows them to be truly in the moment, truly connected to who they really are. The responsibility of family, work, finances and generally trying to keep their world running smoothly seems to control the day to day routines. Co-ordinating and balancing housework, shopping, cooking, working/career, childrens’ homework and activities, being a taxi service and generally trying to keep everybody happy often leaves no room for ‘play’, and more to the point, actually puts ‘play’ at the bottom of the list of priorities, if on the list at all!
What’s more, we then forget how to play. So, because we forget how to play, we simply don’t play.
Another reason for this could be the stereo typical ideal of what ‘growing up’ means in a woman’s world.
I was coaching my teachers a couple of weeks ago, and the gorgeous Charlotte shared something with me that really made me think. 🤔
Her words went something like this…”When I was growing up, I used to wish that I was boy. I used to see the men having fun, being active and playing football, and I saw the women being sensible and boring and cleaning, cooking and looking after everything. I thought that that was life as a Woman so I wished I was a boy” 😲 (What the heck!!)
Charlotte’s perception of being a woman actually made her want to be a boy!! What the…!!!
I personally have had numerous experiences of this stereo typical ideology when my own daughter has been embarassed by me doing handstands in public. “Mum, stop it, everyone’s looking at you. You’re so embarrassing Mum!” Where on earth did she get that idea from? It certainly wasn’t from me!
Can you remember a time when you would play freely on the grass, playing the handstand game floretta, or practising cartwheels? Can you remember how that felt?🤸♀️⛹️♀️
When Jasmine was growing up, anytime we were out and I saw monkeys bars or a patch of grass, I would automatically go and ‘play’, loose myself in handstands and cartwheels (I still do!) Jasmine would be mortified, “Mum, stop it, everyone’s looking!” She soon learned that I wasn’t interested in what everyone else was doing or thought. What they thought was their business. I wasn’t going to stop doing what brought me joy for fear of judgment.
According to Sport England through the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, It is estimated that 70% of women don’t engage in sport or physical activity for Fear of Judgement. This links directly in to the blog I wrote yesterday on the GRIT + Grace blog.
So then, could fear of judgement be stopping you from living the life you dream of in a fit, strong and healthy body that you love? Or maybe the habit of putting everyone else first has taken over your life and you've forgotten what it's like to do the things that bring you joy, or even how to do it...maybe even what that is!
I've been blessed to have a Mum (Vicci) who's a font of Wisdom, and one of her many many words of wisdom to me that I carry with me every day is, "Vic, you have to look after you! You have to nurture your soul. You see, when all is well with you, all is well with those you love." (Obviously she elaborated on that with the aeroplane oxygen mask analogy) And it's SO TRUE! How can you be the best Mum, the best Nan, the best wife, the best friend, the best employee, the best boss if you put yourself on the bottom of the priority list?
Let me be blunt with you here… I DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE 20, 40 or 60 years old, it is NEVER too late to change the direction of your life, EVER!
Ladies, we don’t stop playing because we get ‘old’, we get old because we stop ‘playing’. THINK ABOUT THAT...
Now, playing does not necessarily mean doing handstands and cartwheels (although for me they massively come into my play time), but more so, taking time out for YOU. Time to enjoy life freely and most importantly to fully appreciate and experience the amazing miracle that is your physical body!
So, if like Lindsay, one of our GRIT + Grace teamies, you think... "Time for me now" and at a point in your life where you would like to see what your body is really made of, and the amazing things you can achieve when you prioritise you, even for just a tiny hour twice a week I’d love to hear from you. 🙂
Right, that’s all from me today on that topic! I've got to run upstairs now and quickly shower before I leave for Cali' (basically play time) with Coach Dave Bolton!
Why not today, let any limitations you have put on yourself because of your age or body size / shape / responsibilities just fall away.
Remember, you were created limitless, you still are…
Love Vic xx
