The Sixties: When Your Body Decides to Get Weird on You
Let me tell you something nobody warned me about: the sixties feel completely different from your fifties, and it’s weird as hell.
I’m doing all the same things I did five years ago. Same workouts, same routines, same life. But suddenly there’s an ache that wasn’t there before. Recovery takes longer. I find myself thinking “Why?” more often than I’d like to admit.
And here’s the kicker – this is exactly when life decided to hand me grandkiddos to raise. Mother Nature has a sick sense of humour, right? Just when your body starts whispering “maybe slow down a bit,” life cranks up the volume and demands you keep up with small humans who lose their minds overnight and can’t remember basic routines.
The “Age is Just a Number” Crowd Can Stop Right There
Oh please. We know age is just a number. We can do math. But pretending our bodies don’t change? That’s not helpful, it’s delusional.
Here’s what’s real: very few of us did everything “right” our whole lives. We’ve got genetics playing their part (even if it’s smaller than we think). What happens as we age is different for everyone, and we experience it differently. Stop telling me I can feel 30 when I’m 60 – I don’t want to feel 30. I want to feel like a capable 60-year-old.
What the Sixties Actually Look Like
So what does being a capable 60-year-old actually mean in daily life?
Most mornings, I get out of bed at the crack of dawn and don’t want to. But I do it anyway. If I want my morning walk to feel nature wake me up – I do it. If I want to get my strength training in before chaos erupts – I do it. Not because I’m motivated. Because I need to, because it’s important to me and I’m important.
Then the grandkiddos are up and it starts. “Make your beds, eat your breakfast, get ready for school.” The same routine that was exhausting the first time around with my own kiddos, except now I’m doing it with a 60-something body instead of my younger one.
Sometimes I get a few minutes to sit in the car during school pickup and just breathe. That’s my retirement right there – stolen moments of quiet in a parked car.
Sorting the Good Research from the Noise
The media tells us we need to do this and that and the other thing. If I followed every piece of advice, I’d need 30 hours in a day.
Then you’ve got younger people – bless them – telling those of us with decades more lived experience how to age well, and that’s okay if the research is sound. But honestly, they haven’t lived it yet. I thought after all the work I did in my 40s, that my 60s would be a breeze, but that’s not the case.
Here’s the thing though – there IS solid research out there that actually applies to us. Research done on women (and men), by people who understand what we’re dealing with. The trick is figuring out which studies are worth paying attention to and then working out how to make that research fit into your actual life.
Not the life where you have endless time and resources. Not the life where you don’t have grandkiddos asking to play or “how to” every five minutes. Your real life, with all its complications and time constraints. Take the good science and make it work for you, not the other way around.
Here’s What I’ve Learned
The key is getting brutally honest about what you can’t do anymore, then understanding that if you do nothing, it’ll be worse next year. And the year after that.
Your body is changing whether you like it or not. You can work with it or against it, but you can’t pretend it’s not happening. The sixties are when you stop accepting “this is just how it is” and start fighting for every bit of strength and energy you’ve got left.
Because the alternative? Nobody wants to find out what that looks like in their later decades.
But here’s the good news: you don’t have to figure this out perfectly. You just have to start where you are and work with what you’ve got.
And here’s the part nobody talks about: when you keep showing up for your body even when it’s being weird, you carry yourself differently. Not younger — just more certain. You trust yourself more. That’s what being a capable 60-something actually feels like from the inside.
Move Moment
This week, pick one thing that’s gotten harder and find a way to practice it that fits your life. Maybe it’s getting up from the floor – practice during ad breaks while the grandkiddos watch TV. Maybe it’s carrying groceries – take two trips instead of struggling with everything at once, but make sure you’re still doing the carrying.
Or maybe what you need to practice is giving yourself those stolen moments of quiet. Sit in your car for an extra two minutes after errands. Stand on your back step with your morning coffee or tea before the chaos starts.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s staying in the fight for your own capability, even when life is demanding everything from you.
