You Said It. I Pass It On: Readers on their Big Hairy Ass Goals

You're Too Old to Spend the Rest of Your Life on the Couch: Let's Adventure!

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A couple of readers share their BHAGs

A few days ago I wrote a piece about big Hairy Ass Goals, and got some wonderful responses. As usual, Dear Reader always delivers. I have permission to share these two:

From

Stephanie Raffelock

:

Not sure if I qualify for BIG Hairy Ass Goal, but I'll reframe as qualifying for a BEAUTIFUL Hairy Ass Goal. At 72 and 73, my husband and I are planning an interstate move -- from Austin, Texas to the Granite Bay area in California. What we are moving toward is more hiking trails and more accessibility to trails. Here in Austin, most of the trails are craggy and not very user friendly to my older connective tissue -- so there it is, a move with all its stresses, packing, unpacking, and the like to move toward something that we love. And, it's not just the hike anymore it's the "wandering" in and through the woods, lingering along the trails that follow the water, and breathing in the wisdom and holiness of nature. And the area that we've chosen has a lot of Folsom Lake access where we can also kayak, another thing we both love It's the love of life and earth that light me up and nourish my gratitude.

Having made a late-in-life move at 67 from Denver to Eugene, after fifty years in Colorado, I can attest that this is a bastard of a process. It’s all dreamy until you start packing, moving, schlepping, moving in and all there rest. There is a good reason why, on the list of things that stress us out horribly, big moves are right up there. This is a huge BHAG. Kudos, and good luck, and keep us posted.

Stephanie,

Then there’s this:

Lisa Mott

Lisa’s Substack

I achieved one of my BHAG 4 years ago when I moved from Denver to Isla Mujeres, MX (a little island off Cancun). I’m working on another BHAG as the plans for building a house on the little piece of property I bought on the island are almost ready to be submitted for permits.

But what’s really rolling around inside me these days (I’ll be 59 in about a month) is what my BHAG physically will be. I’m well on my way, even if currently it’s all vaguely lumped under “getting/staying healthy”.

I’m super consistent with exercise and have been for the last 4 years and my food is light years healthier than it has ever been. I’ve got a super strong friendship and support/ social network here, along with an amazing relationship with my daughter and SIL, and lots of other family ties. Plus challenging, well paid work that I enjoy and the freedom to work part-time.

And I’m working on filling in some gaps.

Catching up on all the health screening that went by the wayside during the pandemic. Cutting way back on smoking on my way to quitting ( a monumental goal as I’ve been a heavy smoker for 40+ years). Upping the intensity of my exercising. Tweaking lifestyle to cover all the areas (cardio, strength, mobility, muscle building, sleep, balance, menopause hormonal, working my brain by learning a new language, etc.)

As I write all this, I realize how lucky and privileged I am to have the resources and time to focus on doing all the things that I have some control over for aging well.

I don’t know that I have a specific goal beyond seeing how good I can feel! But time will tell.

Lisa’s got quite a few BHAGs crammed in here, but as you might imagine the smoking for me is the biggie so that Lisa can enjoy what she’s building. I once smoked five packs a day; that lasted about three years in my idiot youth so I do understand how hard this is.

That said, Lisa,

Some of you are considering moving overseas.

You’ve got this.

Some of you are starting new exercise programs. Eating better.

You’ve got this.

Some of you…..you get it.

I just posted a piece of video in Notes, and am posting it again here but with the backstory. Back in 2011 a trainer put me on a BOSU (both sides up) ball for the first time. I had no clue what I was doing, nearly fell, he pulled at me and destroyed a muscle next to my scapula.

I declared myself unable to balance and swore I’d NEVER get on a BOSU again.

Fast forward to about four months ago. I’m at our shiny, brand-new YMCA. See a ballet dancer in her twenties doing all kinds of one-legged stuff on a BOSU ball.

Say to myself, I’M GONNA DO THAT.

Started by holding onto a staff. Then about two weeks later, no staff. Now, here’s a sample of what I can do:

This isn’t bragging. My feet don’t work very well. This trains them. In our eighties we may lose our inner ear’s ability to help us balance. This is how I am training my body and core to deal with unpredictable feet and perhaps, loss of my balance.

My BHAG over the last few years has been to be able to walk, to hike, to get back to what I love. I’m getting there. The next BHAGs are coming as I get these interim ones under my belt.

I’ve got this.
You’ve got this, too.

What is the next BHAG you’ll give yourself? Goals as we age are more important than ever. More on that later. I am off to raft the Rogue, see you on the other side!

Let’s play.

Photo by Cynthia Andres on Unsplash

Thanks for joining me this morning as I head out for more screaming fun. I hope you got value from this. If so please consider

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