Jim Klobuchar - A Chaotic Search for Progress
Jim Klobuchar, Ecumen "Changing Aging" contributor: In 45 years of daily journalism, Jim Klobuchar’s coverage ranged from presidential campaigns to a trash collector’s ball. He has written from the floor of a tent in the middle of Alaska, from helicopters, from the Alps and from the edge of a sand trap. He was invited to lunch by royalty and to a fist fight by the late Minnesota Viking football coach, Norm Van Brocklin. He wrote a popular column for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for 30 years and has authored 23 books. Retiring as a columnist in 1996, he contributes to Ecumen’s “Changing Aging” blog, MinnPost.com and the Christian Science Monitor. He also leads trips around the world and an annual bike trip across Northern Minnesota. He’s climbed the Matterhorn in the Alps 8 times and has ridden his bike around Lake Superior. He’s also the proud father of two daughters, one of whom is Minnesota's senior U.S. Senator.
A Chaotic Search for Progress
The toast was burning in the kitchen while I thrashed miserably in the dressing room 15 feet away, grappling with the waist buttons of my freshly pressed, going-to-church pants. All the rules of rational behavior told me I should break off this unequal struggle and try to avert a bonfire in the kitchen.
Right about then I remembered one of those homely little axioms from my weekly meeting: “try for progress, not perfection.”
You may be familiar with this summons to civilized behavior. The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous have rescued millions of faltering human beings from the roads to self-destruction. Most of its practicing members long ago abandoned any illusions about the strength of raw will power to keep themselves upright and sensible. The language of those 12 steps is a tough catechism of survival. It has now become common currency around the world, along with AA’s taut little aphorisms that make the point unavoidably clear. “If you’re waiting for miracles,” one of them tells us, “God doesn’t drive a parked car. So do something positive.” Or “You’re only as sick as the secrets you keep.”
Generally I accept all of the wisdom there, including the hazards of perfectionism. When I say perfectionism I’m not talking about calling the Geek Squad when you forget your password. One of my problems is Rudyard Kipling, the old poet laureate of the British Empire, whose tutorial on the hallmark of achieving manhood finished with this stirring call to the principle that nothing succeeds like excess:
“If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and—which is more—you’ll be a man, my son!”
In other words, time is precious. I have relentlessly applied myself to this proverb whenever tempted, sometimes with awkward results. The morning after the presidential election of 1960 I was working with the Associated Press in Minneapolis, writing the election stories from the Midwest. The race between John F.Kennedy and Richard Nixon remained tight into dawn. There were no exit polls. The world clamored for a winner. Three states were still out, Minnesota, California and Illinois. At 9 a.m.we decided that Kennedy, with a rush of votes from the north, would carry Minnesota and win the presidency. I began writing furiously, declaring Kennedy the winner, summarizing the historic nature of his victory, fingers flying across the typewriter keyboard, giving myself no time to use carbon paper to track the copy. The bureau chief tore it out of my typewriter one paragraph at a time and raced it to the teletype operator. Midway through I yelled to the teletype man, “Bob, how does that last paragraph end?” He tried to be helpful. “With a period,” he said.
But this is 2010. The world has changed but I still have this sentimental fondness, this obvious delusion, about being able to pack end to end action into those unforgiving minutes. I know for a fact that it takes toast 8 minutes to become toast at our house. So I armed the toaster and knew I had time to shave, take my morning pills, dress for the day and be out into the kitchen in time to harvest the toast. I was virtually dressed and ready to bound into the morning when the last waist button on my trousers refused to work its way though the eyelet. I twisted the button, turned the eyelet, wriggled the button, used brute force. Nothing worked. And now my wife in the kitchen was yelling about smoke from the toaster. The coffee pot was whistling wildly. The alarm was about to sound and my wife was worried about the fire brigade heading to our house with sirens wailing. I rushed in and disarmed the toaster. My wife silently rolled her eyes. It was humiliating. I retreated to finish buttoning my trousers.
Someone talk to me about progress.
CrossFit: Intergenerational fitness at its best
This will change your life. Yeah, who hasn’t heard that before about a fitness regimen? But that’s exactly what older adult participants in CrossFit claim. “I can keep up with people half my age and I like that,” exclaims Theresia Sabayan, a 59 year old grandmother from British Columbia. “I love it and plan on doing CrossFit forever. It's always interesting, always workable. I don't have to spend hours at the gym with very little results. It's quick, it works.”
What is CrossFit? Participants don’t use StairMasters or weight machines. Instead they do brief, high-intensity workouts that mix simple gymnastics, track and field skills and bodybuilding primarily using their own body weight. The program stresses functional fitness, meaning you'll actually be able to do more with your life. Initially, devotees were paramilitary groups such as firefighters & police officers. It’s quickly spreading to other demographics, including the “silvers”. A quick peek at a typical CF workout is intimidating, even for a 20-something. Yet, advocates are quick to point out the scalability of movements that can be performed by anyone, of any age and condition. Dan Hope, a 67 year-old from Athens, Georgia says: “One of the great things about CrossFit is that anyone can participate. It may take some of us well beyond our prime to admit we are no longer able to function at the levels we enjoyed in our youth, but scaling makes it possible to stay active.” Who knew sweat could be an intergenerational, bonding experience? “I am 64 in September and working out along side a fellow who wants to be a Navy Seal”, states Ellen Clifford of Minneapolis. “Now, how awesome is that?!”
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Steve Shaughessy, of Charlotte, North Carolina who recently turned 60, has been practicing for 18 months. He concedes it’s hard work, “but the benefits are well worth it. I’ve lost 30 lbs., improved my strength, have way less pain in my arthritic knee, feel younger and have more energy”. Ellen, who is Steve’s sister, has also seen positive changes in her life such as weight loss, increased confidence, improved strength and energy. “I sleep better and just seem to have more enthusiasm for life in general. My balance has also improved and that’s a big thing when you get older”.
Steve has recruited his wife, high-school & college aged friends as well as folks his own age. “There is great camaraderie with other CrossFit members.” Community is a component that enthusiasts point to as a factor that keeps them coming back for more. “Crossfitters are very special people whether they are young or old – they all encourage each other. There is no discrimination,” Ellen continues. “The esprit de corps among CrossFitters is something incredible. So not only are the physical aspects improving your life but you feel like you have an entire team supporting your efforts. I don’t ever want to stop”. ~Helen Rickman
Why it Pays to Have an Expert Build Senior Housing
Our housing development team posted on their blog an unfortunate story from KSTP-TV about a Minnesota State Government nursing home that has sat empty for a year because of apparent shoddy construction. Not exactly the best use of taxpayer resources.
The Raw Economics of the Nursing Home
Here's another example of why we need a long-term care financing system in America. Charles Schrader wrote a really thoughtful first-person article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about his experience and the closure of Ashton, Care Center in Pipestone, Minnesota:
Whoever said that "life's what happens while you're making other plans" got it right.
We briefly put our evening on hold to give ourselves time to "check our e-mail." My wife's was a real date-killer. Judy carefully handed me our laptop. "Here," she said, "What do you make of this?"
A cryptic but carefully crafted e-mail from the management of Ashton Care Center, Pipestone, Minn., where my 98-year-old mother-in-law had been living the past two years, invited -- no, urged -- our attendance the following Monday evening at a family/ community meeting to discuss the "financial challenges" facing Ashton.
Our calm gave way to angst. What could this mean? Increased fees? Reduced services? Then it hit me: "The place is closing," I suggested.
Last Friday night my wife and I had other plans. A pleasant supper out on the deck, followed by reading in the den, then a movie . . . Read Charle's full article here.
LeadingAge - Dig the New Name for AAHSA
A tale of two names . . . LeadingAge vs. American Homes and Services for the Aging
LeadingAge is confident, bold, energetic. The other name: well, it's pretty tame, pretty safe, and pretty boring. Changing aging in America means stepping up and stepping out.
Congratulations to the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, which is putting a new name before its membership to much better reflect who the organization is on the Inside with a new name on the Outside . . . LeadingAge.
Stories in Living from the Obituary Page - Rev. Andrew Rogness
Stories of living and inspiration abound on the obituary page. Here's one today from John Brewer, a writer at the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, about Rev. Andrew Rogness, 62, a Lutheran pastor in Roseville, Minn., who clearly made "home" for people by welcoming them. Blogging on the Prince of Peace Church web site, he wrote in one of his entries in February during his Stage 4 cancer about mortality:
. . . ."There are the usual 'bucket list' things to live for, like watching the Winter Olympics and college basketball's March Madness. But 'the most compelling reasons to fight for life, I'm discovering, are of a different kind," he wrote.
"I want to be here this coming July for my son's wedding - not so much for my sake as for his and his bride's sake. I want to be here in July for our 40th wedding anniversary, not just for my sake, but for my wife's," he wrot
"In short I believe the most compelling reason to live, no matter what each person faces in life, is to embrace the notion that we live for the sake of others. The Bible is filled with this notion of being stewards. Embracing this reason for life becomes more compelling when faced with the predicament of our own mortality."
When it was clear that Pastor Rogness wouldn't make it to his son's wedding, his son and fiancee got their marriage license and gathered their families in Rogness' hospital room. They read their vows, the homily he wrote, and he blessed their wedding. He died two hours later with his family singing hymns that he and his brothers Bishop Peter Rogness, head of the Saint Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Stephen and the Rev. Michael Rogness sang as children.
Bishop Rogness told Brewer, "It was the most marvelous interweaving of life's joy and sadness, of ending and beginnings."
I'm New at Being Old by Lucy Rose Fischer
So many new ideas, careers and adventures are being launched through aging. When Lucy Rose Fischer was nearing 60, she became an artist after nearly 25 years as a researcher and author in the field of aging. Her new book, "I'm New at Getting Old" (Temuna Press) is getting rave reviews:
Here's Twin Cities book reviewer Mary Ann Grossman of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press on Fischer's work:
"I'm New at Being Old" is one of the prettiest, liveliest picture books of the season. Fischer expects it to resonate with the 40 million women, age 55 and older, " who look in the mirror and wonder: "Is that really me?"
Illustrated by Fischer's lively and colorful drawings, her text reads like poetry, with the narrator worrying about "losing my mind" because names slip from her brain. She writes of accepting her wrinkles and wondering where the time has gone. When she visits her elderly mother-in-law at a senior community, someone asks to her horror, if she's a new resident. But her tone is optimistic: "I'm in transition -- new at being old. Gingerly, I join the World of Older Women."
Writers Go After IMDb to Get Ages Removed - Get Hip to the Age Wave Hollywood
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is a great information source on movies. Apparently too much information is being shared in some film industry members' eyes. Fearing backlash from ageism in Hollywood, the Writers Guild of America is seeking removal of birthdates from the site.
In a country where people have much to contribute for much longer than ever before, we're competitively shooting ourselves in the foot with an ageist society.
LinkedIn for Senior Services and Aging
It would be beneficial for LinkedIn to add senior services and aging to its profession field. Thousands of people work in the U.S. senior services profession or the field of aging, but there's no category for it on LinkedIn. Find the age wave, LinkedIn. Please add senior services and aging as a "profession" category.
Try the Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator
This calculator doesn't take too long (5 to 10 minutes) and is kind of fun. It asks you 40 health history type questions and then gives you a calculation about the age destination you're currently on . . . Curious if you think it's any good.