Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
It’s been a year of new beginnings and revelations for me. Some positive, and others confronting. Like turning 50. I thought I was okay with getting older. Okay in that, you know it’s just another number and I’m feeling pretty good, so I don’t need to worry. Until I did.
I think I was distracted from facing this milestone birthday, and allowing myself to sit with the transition to understand what it means to me – by another event. A new beginning. A new marriage. Yep, our wedding took place two weeks after I turned 50. We had been together for ten years. It was a wonderful wedding. Held high in the Queensland hinterlands at beautiful Maleny where the energy is magical and the views match.
We went to Italy and Greece for our honeymoon, and it was while walking around these ancient civilisations that my body started to speak to me. Or rather moan at me. It was fleeting at first. A niggle here. A creak there. Damn those never-ending steps in Positano!
It puzzled me. Why was my body not coping with simply walking around these beautiful ancient villages? I had always been an active person. Horse riding since I was a teenager and working out four to five times a week doing weight and HIIT classes, along with yoga sessions to recover. I prided myself on staying fit and healthy. Yet my body suddenly couldn’t handle walking up and down the steps that former Gods graced?
When my left knee started to buckle every time I went down steps, I knew something was not right. I was getting Nanna knees! I refused to accept there was an issue. I felt this should be the prime time of my life. I had a new husband whom I adored. We were exploring the world together and there was so much more that I wanted to do. I was not ready to be old! NO damn it. I refuse to be old!
It wasn’t until we returned home and I received our wedding photos that it started to sink in. Isn’t it funny how the image you have of yourself is not reflected back at you in photos? When I saw myself in those photos I had a meltdown. A full blown out, heart sobbing, whaling like I’d lost a loved one onslaught mid-life crisis. Where had those crow’s feet come from? And the wrinkles around my mouth? Not to mention the jowls! Oh the jowls! ‘Not jowls!’ I cried to my husband.
I’m not sure whether it was post-holiday blues, menopause, a mid-life crisis or all of the above but I hit black alley. That mother of a depressed place that drags you down the side of a building and gives you a good beating. Life just didn’t seem all that great anymore. I’d already lived half my life, and I might only have another ten or twenty years left, so that meant I’d already lived the majority of my life. How did that even happen? Where did those years go? Being 50 wasn’t great – it sucked. My life had been stolen. I panicked. I wanted more. More life. More love. More sex. More travelling. More exercise. More wine. More books. More time with family and friends. More time to sit in awe at the beauty of this planet. No. 50 would not define me. It would not be my end.
It would be my new beginning.
I pulled myself out of my miasma and focused on feeling better. Feeling young again. And educating myself on how my body was ageing and what I could do to stall it or possibly even revert it. It was timely that Dr David Sinclair’s book Lifespan came into my life. It gave me hope.
The first thing I tackled was my Nanna knees. A trip to the physiotherapist and some X-rays later revealed osteo arthritis in my knees – yep Nanna knees. The physio wasn’t exactly a beacon of shining suggestions to resolve my buckleitis, so I started researching.
Here’s what I found:
- osteoarthritis is a breakdown of the cartilage in the joints
- as it gets worse you’ll start to see inflammation and swelling
- there’s no cure but you can manage it
- there are some prescription medications you can take but I prefer natural options
- I started taking curcumin. A polyphony of turmeric, curcumin has long been used in Asian countries for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties.(Source: US National Library of Medicine)
Inflammation has been identified in the development of many chronic diseases and conditions. These include Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, cancer, allergy, asthma and diabetes.
Since being on curcumin my knees have reverted to their youthful prime, where they can once again climb steps, do HIIT classes and ride horses.
Getting old doesn’t mean our bodies have to degenerate. With the right food, supplements and exercise we can continue to live life well. Life doesn’t stop at 50 it’s just getting started!