I loved the newest Star Wars episode #7, “The force Awakens”.

My favourite character was Rey played by 23 year old Daisy Ridley.

She embodies the kind of feminism I have always loved. Sweet yet strong, funny, cute, lovable, smart as a whip.

This time around, a fit body (rather than the impossible skeletal thinness of Princess Leia of the 80s) is in Vogue.

Age 23 and 47 are vastly different and I cannot expect my body would respond in kind to 5hr a day workouts that Ridley endured.

But.

What about conditioning my body for future hikes in Arizona?

Shedding 10 holiday pounds?

Miss Ridley inspired me.

I’ve had some really tough trainers in the past and I don’t think I’ll repeat that. That was all about self-harm when I was in a very dark place and grieving; wanting to feel physical pain to match what was going on in my mind.

Now I am happy and in the light.

What would working out like that feel like in a happy place?

Good?

Expansive?

Growing?

I want 2016 to be all about preparing my body for my 50s. I’m kind of excited to turn 50 really.

“oh, you are NUTS!”

Perhaps, but I have already experienced the horrible aging things in my youth that my friends are just now beginning to experience:
*menopause
*hot flashes
*total disability with a spine injury
*horrible tinninitis
*stuttering
*word loss
*radiation (thyroid)
*chemo (endometriosis)

And now I feel like I finally get to experience the youth that eluded me in my 20s and 30s.

So, as I watched Daisy on screen, I felt inspired and said to myself “c’mon ol’ girl, you could do something.”

And so, I will.

Image modified from Disney’s Star Wars The Force Awakens. 2015