hi all, today i am gonna mull over some thoughts about mid life and how being an archer improves your scene.....
i was listening to some NPR, generally this makes me mad, but today i caught a few minutes of a woman journalist who wrote a book about the middle aged person and how there is a lack of punctuation to this part of life.
the jist of what was said is that goals and milestones are abundant while in childhood, through adolescence into the early stages of beginning a functional adult. school has demands of a passing grade, sports are used to gauge things, boy/girl scouts, karate and many other endeavors act as a period, exclamation mark etc, even into post school and post college. buying a house, getting a "good"job etc.
what happens to most people here is....a sad settling in to life and the mechanics of making it comfortable. not everyone for sure but many. this is often masked by getting involved in your child's pass times. karate, scouts etc. this is not to say that joy is not found, and fun times not there.
i guess what i am saying is having a sport or hobby that pushes you keeps you striving for something, a reason to play(which is just all a round better)
if you are a grown up and are interested in archery please let me know, if you are out of the area i have a good network of coaches i can recommend .
if archery is not an interest , take piano lessons. anything that will engage you as a driving desire to get better is going to re insert the missing small goals and milestones.
other benefits of having a sport/hobby/pass time....
you will meet great people
you will learn new skills...keep dementia at bay!
your moods and demeanor will become more sunny
in archery there are programs that have little check points like USA Archers Adult Achievement Program , and JOAD. where you shoot for Pins. similar to the NRA marksmanship qualification program. there are also divisions for any type of equipment or style, age and gender. i am new to this side of archery. it is great! i am meeting very nice people, and there is an intermingling with the JOAD kids at league and matches. it has much more of a community/team vibe than 3D.
find something that is not your job....and do it!
