One Step at a Time

I just couldn’t bring myself to do it- buy reading glasses, that is. It’s ridiculous, really. I’ve recently started walking around town in five finger shoes which my daughter calls monkey fashion (she won’t be seen with me when I’m wearing them), and they have attracted some amused snorts. Well, fair enough. I too think they look weird, but stick with them because my feet feel great and I like sensing the ground this way. And as for the look, well- remember when Birkenstocks were ugly and unusual? You may still think they look ugly, but you do see them everywhere.

Walking “barefoot” is a great thing for my aging body: it can improve skeletal alignment, contributing to better positioning for hips, knees, pelvic floor etc. I’m all over that. I can handle my aging bunged up feet that led to physiotherapy, which is what eventually led to the monkey shoes.

I’m intrigued by the shifts in my hormones and cycles that indicate perimenopause is underway. I can even handle the deeper lines in my face that have me wondering when ten years snapped by when I wasn’t looking.

But reading glasses are challenging, because they’re such an indication that I’m middle–aged. After months of stretching my arm to read ingredients on the sides of shampoo bottles (wishing I could take out my contacts in the middle of the store aisle) I have to admit it’s time.

And I tried.

I went to the store and I looked at a couple of pairs. Then I ran back to the shampoo aisle and just bought a brand with ingredients I already trusted.

I will try again. I know it’s a necessary evil, and will probably wonder what all the fuss was about when it’s done. But I have to work up to it.

I laugh at myself often, because I’m as sucked into society’s horror of aging as the next person. I’m dealing with the rigors of age, and enjoying sharing stuff with friends who are in the same stage of life.

It seems I can just view one element of it at a time.

- Janet

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