Birthday excitement!

Well, I'm turning 31 today.
How exciting is that?!

Why am I excited, you ask?
Because I've decided that I'm never gonna be afraid to grow older.
I'm going to celebrate each and every successive birthday in a blissfully ignorant state.
And I'm going to cherish each milestone I reach. Most definitely.

Growing older will not mean inevitable deterioration for me. No sir.

I will continue to stimulate my body and my senses with activities and challenges until the day I die. And because of that, I will never be "old".
Why have I come to this conclusion?

Well - although I'm still technically "young" at 31... it has still been 24 years since I began working out as a competitive gymnast. It's been about 9 years since I retired from gymnastics. In my fitness lifetime, we former athletes do tend to perceive ourselves as a bit "old".

However, I've dropped this perception.
I've refused to believe that I'm incapable of growing stronger and more fit after leaving my sport.

I've refused to believe that the passing years will take control of my health and pull it downwards.

I can confess that I'm in the best shape of my life - both physically and mentally...
(and it's true I've been in amazing shape many times in my athletic life).

But this time, it's different. There's a satisfaction with my entire well-being that was never there before. There's a desire to take care of myself. And there's an immense pride in my abilities... more so than ever before.

And I aim to continue this trend through any obstacles I might face in the next 70 years or so :)

I know that I'll eventually slow down a bit. But not for a long, long, LONG time.

What about YOU?
Will you refuse to be "old"?
Will you enjoy your birthdays and quit focusing on some arbitrary number?
Everybody else has decided that older is an ill fate... will you choose to ignore that sentiment and create your own definition of older?
Will you get moving and enjoy what your body is capable of??

Really, you don't have to be "young" to be in great shape!

Youth really is relative. It may be a tangible thing as far as age, maturity, and experience goes... but a youthful vitality can be created at any time!

Besides:
Activity can make you younger.
Movement can keep you young.
And, of course, making lots of other important lifestyle choices - like nourishing yourself with real, unprocessed foods, practicing moderation, sleeping/resting/recovering, relieving stress, laughing, using your imagination, etc, etc - will aid in that perpetual youth.

So, friends, will you join me?
I invite you to change your perception about age and fitness - if you haven't already.
I invite you to follow along on with my adventures throughout this next year, and follow my lead as a "young at heart" advocate.

But before you do that, have a celebratory drink for my birthday :)
Cheers!