It's Not Too Late To Start Living Your Dreams
Ranked #1,534 in Healthy Living, #30,001 overall
It's only too late if you never begin at all!
Do you agree that it's never too late to learn? Or are there certain doors that you feel are now closed to you?
OK, be honest with me - how many times have you stopped yourself from doing something because you thought it was too late? Let's hear the excuses. "I'm too old." "I'd need to have started at 20 to be any good." "I've missed my chance."
I know, and I sympathise. There's a lot I wish I'd started at age 20, or age 12, or 7, or 2. (Oh yes, think what a fantastic concert pianist I'd be by now if I'd started music lessons aged 2...)
But, as the saying from Barbara Sher goes, it's only too late if you don't start now!
I'm not asking you to take my word for it, though. Instead, I'm going to let the late starters on this page try to convince you. I hope you enjoy their stories and, above all, that you might just say to yourself: "If they can do it, so can I!"
Image by ppdigital on morgueFile.
Today...
It's only too late if you don't start now
It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now: HOW TO CREATE YOUR SECOND LIFE AT ANY AGE
Amazon Price: $5.44 (as of 06/03/2012)
Used Price: $0.01
Motivational writer Barbara Sher wrote this book for over 40s (though personally I don't think you need to hit 40 to take the title message on board).
Her aim is to convince readers that their best years lie ahead, not behind, and that there is a world of possibilities to look forward to.
The book includes common-sense wisdom, questions and exercises to prompt you to break through your self-imposed limits. If you need a dose of inspiration before you start to live your dreams, this could be just what you are waiting for!
Snowboarding
If you thought this was one strictly for the under 30 crowd, think again. Here's John Kuby showing, at 59, that there's no age limit on this awesome sport.
And all the ladies out there, I don't want you thinking you get off the hook because he's a man. Chickie Rosenberg was already in her 5th decade when she tried snowboarding, and she now teaches over 40s.
If you visit the wonderful Grays on Trays website and forums, you'll see that these two are not unusual. There are folk in their 60s, 70s and even older on snowboards (trays).
Actually, 'grays on trays' was used by the younger crowd as an insult when more mature snowboarders started showing up on the slope. Well, nobody's insulting these guys anymore.
John Kuby: 59 year old snowboard king
Snowboarding for beginners
Go Snowboard: Read It, Watch It, Do It (GO SERIES)
Amazon Price: $40.00 (as of 06/03/2012)
Used Price: $3.12
Why I recommend it:
This book and DVD have pride of place on my own bookshelf. Both my husband and I used it to supplement our lessons as adult snowboard beginners, and found it a huge help.
The book on its own is packed with information on every aspect of snowboarding, and the diagrams are well drawn and give clear instructions of hard-to-see things such as where your feet should be applying pressure on your board. Key lessons are also illustrated with step-by-step color photos - making this the most useful snowboarding book I've read.
However, it's even better if you play the corresponding section of the DVD. This will let you see exactly how the professional is doing it so that you can copy his or her technique and posture. Definitely a worthwhile investment!
Begin it
Ballet
Admittedly, if your dream is to dance the lead in your country's national ballet company, an early start would probably be a huge help!
But don't fall for the 'perfection or nothing' trap. If ballet has always appealed to you, but you are not as young or thin as your daydreams insist you'd need to be, get new daydreams! There are plenty of classes which are for adult ballet beginners. Not a skinny 16-year old on pointe shoes in sight.
At an age when professional ballerinas are retiring, their bodies no longer able to take the strain, many adults are putting on their first pair of ballet pumps and finding out how much fun a ballet class can be.
Or if you discover you do have the dedication and talent to take it seriously, there's a teacher out there for you too.
Ballet's not just for women, either. 90 year old John Lowe, who this year starred in a ballet production staged in his honor, began learning at the tender age of 79.
Adult Beginner Ballet Class
New York City Ballet Workout
New York City Ballet: The Complete Workout, Vol. 1 and 2
Amazon Price: $22.39 (as of 06/03/2012)
Why I recommend it:
If you are not sure whether you are ready for an adult ballet class, these DVDs are a great way to try some ballet exercises in your own home. The workouts are pretty demanding if you try to keep up with the professionals (as the DVD will tell you, ballet dancers are some of the fittest athletes around) but just go at your own pace. By the end, you will already be feeling a little more graceful!
These DVD workouts are also a good accompaniment to your adult ballet classes, to build your fitness and give you guided instruction between lessons.
The amount of work is the same...
Play a Musical Instrument
It's true that it's easier to learn when you are young. And yes, there are parents putting 3 year olds before the piano and teaching them to play nursery rhymes.
But forget about all that. Accept that you won't be a child prodigy. What you can be, however, is an adult who has learned to play a few tunes. (Stick at it, and you may go way further than that!)
You have the advantage over many children. You'll be learning because you really want to, not because your parents say you have to!
Violinist.com has an entire thread for adult beginners to share their stories. While some took music up again after a long interval, others started with no experience at all.
If anyone tells you that you can't learn a musical instrument as an adult, the below video should convince you otherwise. This beginner began learning the piano in April 2008. The video was posted to YouTube less than a year later.
Talented adult piano beginner plays Chopin beautifully
Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course
Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One
Amazon Price: $5.74 (as of 06/03/2012)
Used Price: $3.24
Why I recommend it:
Well, you could learn with a child's book, but you might soon get tired of nursery rhymes and other songs designed to appeal to kids!
The first book in this course includes a wide variety of tunes to learn, including The Entertainer, Scarborough Fair and Amazing Grace. You'll learn chords with both hands, which will give you a head start on playing like a professional rather than picking out tunes with one finger.
This book, highly-rated by adult learners on Amazon, is the first in a series so you will be able to progress onto the subsequent books once you've mastered this one.
Music is the Universal Language
Go (back) to College
Well it's not too late... (what do you mean, you knew I was going to say that?)
Mature students are no longer all that unusual in college / higher education. In fact, the over 25 year old age category is becoming a significant sector in education, and universities everywhere are waking up to that fact. There has never been better support and encouragement for the older student.
Even if studying on campus is out of the question, there may be other ways to fit a degree into your busy lifestyle. I've just spent the last two years as an online learner, studying for a Masters degree. I graduate this week (at time of writing - November 2009) with a distinction! I worked for much of the time I was studying, but was able to fit in the seminars and assignments around my own schedule.
Why not see if something similar is on offer in a subject that would suit you?
If you still think you've missed your chance at college, I'm going to hand you over to Nola Ochs, who graduated in 2007 at the age of 95, alongside her 21 year old grand-daughter.
Try telling Nola that you're too old!
Nola Ochs - 95 year old graduate
Try Trying!
Paddy Jones is a Salsa Superstar - at 75!
Although a professional dancer in her younger years, Paddy has only been dancing the salsa for 5 years, taking up the dance after the loss of her husband.
Read more about Paddy and her sensational Salsa win here:
Dancing Gran Wins TV Talent Search
Salsa Grandmother
Possibilities
The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become.
Blog Posts about being an Adult Beginner
- Barre none: Adults find a dancing outlet with beginner ballet lessons
- Katharina Abderholden (right) and Elisabeth O'Keefe are regulars in an adult ballet class at the Valley Academy for the Arts. / Wm. Glasheen/The Post-Crescent Executive director Anne Marie Abderholden leads an adult ballet class at the Valley Academy ...
- Community calendar: Laryngectomees support group
- The Union County Carnegie Library is having an adult summer reading contest. Get entry forms at the library or from the Bookmobile. Call 864-427-7140 for more information. Support for People with Oral, Head and Neck Cancer: 2-3:30 pm A self-help ...
- For the Participant, June 3: A list of events in central Pennsylvania
- Adult golf camp, June 4-8 from 6-7 pm at Rich Valley Golf Course. Fee is $100 for the week for beginners learning about the swing to basic rules of golf. Call Rick Kirby at 717-433-0737 or e-mail rwkirby@comcast.net. Briarwood golf clinics, June 4-5 ...
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Do you agree that it's never too late?
What are you going to 'try trying' in the year ahead?
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jjdanca18
May 16, 2012 @ 5:40 pm | delete
- What an inspiring lens! I agree, it's never too late for anything!
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siobhanryan
Apr 12, 2012 @ 7:06 pm | delete
- I agree-went to college for the first time at 42-re started my life over again at 38 and again at 49-if you want to you can
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KateHon
Apr 9, 2012 @ 3:19 pm | delete
- I didn't start writing until last year and I'm not as young as I look! I never realized it was what I've always wanted to do until I did it. Thanks for this lens - truly inspirational!
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NIVEDITA
Apr 6, 2012 @ 8:15 am | delete
- THIS IS WHAT I CALL POSITIVE ATTITUDE.I FEEL IF YOU HAVE LIFE YOU CAN AND SHOULD FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS.THIS IS A GOOD ARTICLE
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of_different_sorts Jan 23, 2012 @ 9:46 pm | delete
- Attitude is what matters! The saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," is true only for those who decide not to try. I enjoyed reading your lens!
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Ladymermaid
Oct 3, 2011 @ 8:49 am | delete
- It truly is never to late to begin again or to accomplish your dreams. In today's rough economic times many have adapted and struck back into the stream of success once again....just moving in a direction which they never imagined they would take. We certainly are adaptable.
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WordCustard
Oct 3, 2011 @ 1:00 pm | delete
- Very true. Thanks for sharing such an uplifting point of view.
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Sanet
Aug 20, 2011 @ 8:05 pm | delete
- The message is just what I needed today. Yes, I believe it is never too late but it is so good to see it in action like the people in the videos.
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RenaissanceWoman2010
Aug 13, 2011 @ 11:16 am | delete
- I love the message here. There is no such thing as too late. The Barbara Sher quote is fantastic. What is it that you can start right now? That is my take away.
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wordstock Aug 13, 2011 @ 9:42 am | delete
- My mother went back to college to get her masters degree. She taught me a lot about never too old. Great lens, angel blessed.
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by WordCustard
The people I've featured here have convinced me that it's never too late - how about you?
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