On life and living...

Sister Mary Martin Weaver has been a Catholic nun all her adult life. At the age of 55, when many of us begin to think about retirement, she began thinking about athletics. She began training and now has won 44 gold, silver and bronze medals in the Rocky Mountain Senior Games and the US National Senior Olympics. Her specialities include snowshoe racing, speed and figure skating, basketball free throws, shot put, ice hockey, and the 5,000 metre race walk. She said,

People have gotten flabby, and I don't mean just physically. Anything that's too much, people just don't want to do. But there are no rewards in anything unless you try. Age should never be a barrier to full participation in life. What's most important is to enjoy life to its fullest, to do things for and with others, and never, ever be afraid to stretch your limits.

These words from Leonard Sweet's book Soul Tsunami (p267) are inspiring, encouraging and challenging all at once - the call is to never give up (to quote another great!) The call is to never stop trying, but to push on through all sorts of self/society imposed barriers through to new realities and then beyond!