I’ve got a new goal in my life. I want to run/walk a mile when I am 95. I’m 28 now, so I think I’ve got enough time to get into shape for it, and if you know my grandpa’s story, you know I’ve got the family genes to make it happen. But just in case, I better do a little additional preparation in the next 67 years to make this goal a reality. I’m planning to take the holistic approach: mind, body and spirit.

Mind
I’ve got to keep my mind active and engaged. After all, I want to remember my run/walk goal when I am 95. I’m always open to new ways to stimulate my mind, and at the moment, I keep myself going by writing (obviously), reading everything from romances to mysteries to biographies and more, and listening to NPR constantly. I also meditate on a fairly regular basis. For meditating, I follow the transcendental technique (but I admit that I don’t follow it completely perfectly). And actually, there are many types of meditation that can be helpful. I find that meditation helps calm my mind so I can think clearly, and I think it helps me sleep at night.

Body
I’m focusing more and more these days on improving my body. As I expressed in my last blog entry, getting up and moving is a bit new to my 28-year-old self, but it’s awfully important that I get it right. While it’s one thing for me to run a mile today, I’ve got to find a way to keep this going for the next 67 years. And I’m up to the challenge! I’m already working with my sister – the marathon runner – to find a race to enter, and I’ll be blogging more about that as we make our running plans. I’m also working on improving my cooking and eating habits (more about that soon, too). I’m not the greatest cook yet – I burned tomato soup the other day.

Spirit
I think of this category in terms of spiritual connection: connection with yourself, connection with nature, connection with whatever higher power you believe in and connection with each other. It means listening to my body and following what my body tells me – this is really hard for me! It also means being kind to myself (self-compassion) and here’s why. Lastly, I think it means maintaining positive energy, and I can sometimes be a very “glass half empty” type of person, so I’ve got to work on that.

The bottom line is this: I’ve got to maintain a proper balance between all three of these areas if I’m going to make it to my 95-year-old goal. I suspect I’ll have to adjust and change my strategies as I change and grow and my life changes, but I can make it. And when I do (in the year 2077), check back and read all about it because I’m going to be blogging and bragging. Or maybe we’ll be doing a different type of blogging by then. Either way, I’ll be celebrating with my walker and my cane and a big grin across my face!

Wellness links to help over the next 67 years:

• All about wellness
• More on meditation
• Can you add to this list? I’ll keep expanding it as I find more resources!