No folks, it’s not bad grammar. Any Springsteen fan can tell you it’s a line from “Thunder Road”, the first cut on the “Born to Run Album” – one of my personal favorites!
Those of you who’ve read my Boomer-Living pieces for the last three years know that I’m a Boss fan. I attended a concert a couple of weeks ago. It was one of the last shows to be played in the arena where I spent a good part of my teen and young adult years. Bruce is good anytime, anywhere – but Bruce playing in his home state of New Jersey – well, let’s just say, it doesn’t get much better than that. He even wrote a song to commemorate the demolition of what was originally called “The Meadowlands” just off the Jersey turnpike. There’s been talk since his disappearance that Jimmy Hoffa is buried there. I guess we might finally find out.
This concert was special for many reasons. This year I turned 50 and Bruce turned 60! He appeared on the cover of AARP – I didn’t. These monumental birthdays remind me that I’ve been a fan for 35 years. Could it be that “maybe we ain’t that young anymore?” I know I feel 17 when I’m at a Bruce concert. It appeared that the tens of thousands of other middle aged fans felt the same way. We sang and danced – in the rain! No one complained about their arthritic knees; no one discussed the results of their colonoscopies; not one word about how the market ate our pension fund or whether we were taken by the sub-prime mortgage predators. We hugged without worry of the swine flu and didn’t complain about an $8 Bud Lite. We were all kids again. We were as young as we felt. Seems like there’s some science out there to back that up.
In 1979, a young Harvard psychology professor, Ellen Langer conducted an experiment. She recruited elderly men, who although they were not ill, were considered “extremely dependent” and brought them to a beautiful monastery where they would spend the week. It was like entering a time machine that would transport them 20 years into the past. For that week, all the magazines, music, art, television, clothing and the everyday minutia of life were from 1959. Conversations had to be had in the present tense and not about events or experiences after that year.
In just one week the men showed significant changes in physical strength, perceptions, cognition, taste, hearing and visual thresholds. The photographs taken when they left were judged, on average, to look 2 years younger than those taken when they arrived.
Dr. Langer wrote about this in her book, Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. Her theory, in part, is that when one is not being mindful, one accepts the assumptions of aging, the health limitations, attitudes, etc. Her book is a collection of groundbreaking research and perceptions on the matter. Simple studies, like turning the eye chart upside down to read from smallest to largest, creates an expectation that people can see the smaller print. Those tested this way showed better vision.
“Mindfullness comes about from simple acts of noticing new things – it doesn’t matter how smart or silly they may be, so long as we notice them”, says Langer. “Noticing engages us and puts us in the present, better able to take advantage of opportunities. Mindfulness is crucial to our health in several ways. First, when we are mindless, we ignore all the ways we could take control over our health. Second, we turn that control over to the medical world, which despite the many things it can do, can’t treat us as individuals. Third, we mindlessly accept limits we’d be better off questioning, which closes us off to the power of possibility.”
I’m looking forward to reading this book and viewing the movie that’s in production, starring Jennifer Aniston. Jennifer wasn’t even born when I became a fan of Bruce Springsteen!
So go out there and be mindful! Look, notice, pay attention! And don’t fall for the assumptions of limitations! It’s not our parents’ middle age! We boomers have changed and redefined society along the way. We are redefining aging. And it includes dancing in the rain to ‘Thunder Road”!
Pamela Eelman is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor and founder of a Balanced Life. Her private practice helps boomers attain and maintain health in mind, body and spirit. Unlike the profession described by Dr. Langer, Pam can treat everyone as an individual! Visit her at www.abalanced-life.com for further information. She’d love to hear about your thoughts on mindfulness and your favorite Boss song!
Tags: boomer, bud lite, jersey turnpike, springsteen fan
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