I Am A Listener - My Three Times Rule

I have a three times rule.  If I hear about something new - a book, a restaurant, an idea, I make a mental note of it; if I hear about it twice, I jot it down in the little notebook I carry in my pocket; and if I hear about it three times, I sit up and pay attention...I figure "the universe" is talking to me! 

I recently received my third message about focusing more on my fitness and health. 

First, my brother, Fred, and his wife, Sharon, began taking a Nutrition Class.

My brother is the poster child for enthusiasm. If he likes something, he jumps on the bandwagon and touts it to the world. So we began receiving scans of materials he was reading..."Did you know how many calories are in 12 olives?" Then he made a virtual introduction of us to the instructor of the class via email and we received info on how to sign up for the next session.  Mental note made...maybe I should look into more informed eating.

Next we received the list of upcoming classes for our Learning-in-Retirement group and saw one that was entitled "Living Well Forever."  The focus of the class is to learn about emerging technologies in the medical profession based on the premise that if we can live healthy for the next 20 years we might be able to benefit from these innovations.  We got into the class and it begins in September.  Written note made...consider how to live healthier for the next 20 years!

Then, out of the blue we received something for nothing...AARP sent us Silver Sneaker membership cards.

A new perk with our supplemental medicare insurance, this program allows us to attend specific fitness centers in our area at no cost to us.  If we activated it, we could drop our paid membership at the local YMCA. So we checked out the nearest 24 Hour Fitness facility, signed up and have a renewed enthusiasm for getting our bodies more fit.

To make the message louder we watched a documentary on PBS entitled Over 90 and Loving It  where interviews with many people living active lives well into their 90's reaffirmed the importance of staying engaged in life and activities that keep your body moving! More importantly these seniors seemed unaware of how old they were...they just kept doing life!

It is not my plan to life forever and I know there are many things that are out of my control.  But I know I have to do my part.  Jay and I talk about doing whatever we can to support an expanded "health span" and it starts with conscious decisions to continue to eat well and continue to move this body!  I think we already do try to make good eating choices and we have always valued staying fit, but it is easy to slack off.  I welcome these three messages as reminders to us to stay the course.  Thank you Fred, thank you Omnilore and thank you AARP!

Now what to do with the money we save through Silver Sneakers...maybe a smart phone is in our future!