The Youth Thief

Aging is a quiet thief in the night. Slowly, and almost imperceptibly, she robs me of little things. Until the year I reached 53, when she stepped on the cat’s tail and a horrible wail ensued.

Cruel Changes:

“But this youth thief takes no prisoners. She is relentless”

This is the year I had to stop powerlifting because my arthritis rendered my hands useless. This is the year I PR’d (personal record) on my weight. And, this is the year that in order to keep my beautiful, artificial red-headedness, I had to color every two weeks. Not by coincidence. this is also the year I co-founded Kuel Life – to take back a sense of control and power over the thief stealing my youth.

Radical acceptance has never been a forte of mine. But this youth thief takes no prisoners. She is relentless; absconding with a bit of eyesight here, stealing some muscle mass there, leaving a roll or two on my back as she stealthily sets up residence in my body.

Well, I’m here to tell her she doesn’t scare me. Yes, I have to cohabitate with her daily. Yes, she sometimes sneaks away with my ability to turn my head to the left, or right, for that matter – depending on the morning. Luckily, thus far, she eventually returns it….at least for now.

Mean Girl:

She sometimes talks nasty to me, uttering mean girl comments like: “you’ve lost the glow to your skin” or “you used to have such big eyes, what happened to your lids?”.  I don’t always see her coming. She’s particularly evil if I’ve lost a night of sleep, or two, or three… Yea, that happens.

Radical Acceptance:

“Enter Kuel Life. My answer to radical acceptance.”

Did I mention I don’t do radical acceptance? Or, do I?
According to Marsha Linehan, the psychologist who created Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), there are two kinds of people: those who are beaten down by suffering and those who are not. Radical acceptance is about accepting of life on life’s terms and not resisting what you cannot or choose not to change. Radical Acceptance is about saying yes to life, just as it is.
Enter Kuel Life. My answer to radical acceptance. My ‘YES” to life. If I can’t imprison the youth thief then I’m going to celebrate her. I’m going to out her and give her the fan fare she deserves. I’m going to laugh at her antics and learn to embrace my life with her by my side. And, I’m going to invite a whole bunch of my Kuel Sisters to the party.

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