This 69 Year Old Proves That Age Is Just A Number

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DONA GERALDA

By Mayukh Saha

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed the other day. I keep following a number of text-quote pages because hey, I am a millennial; I think I need a lot of motivation to get me through my drudgery filled day in this gig economy.

So anyway, I found this quote: “People die twice. Once at 22 and then at 75.” And it just struck me, the sheer accuracy of the statement. We all do end up kowtowing so much to our lives and the pressures of aging and society, that we just stop feeling.

The people who can stop this “twice dying” are the ones who have truly lived. In this age of dogs eating dogs, living one’s life in a healthy manner and actually not giving up on life and health till the last gasp is a huge thing and very few people can actually do it.

But it is not impossible. Like I said, physical health is one of the best markers of self-love, because you literally take better care of your body.

And there are inspirational people who do keep taking very good care of themselves, as they live life to the fullest. For example, the famous 104 year old man who abseiled and rode a rollercoaster.

Doña Geralda Barbosa, to her followers on Instagram, is one such person. YouTube her, or just go check her out on Instagram, where she likes to show off her fitness regime.

She is a fitness freak in the truest sense of the term. And it all started about five or six years ago.

 

She realised that 63 was an age when she didn’t want to really start aging; she wanted to live, and not just as an old woman. So, she did the most logical thing. Of course, being millennial, I say that with a pinch of salt.  Basically, she joined the gym.

At 69, she is an inspiration to all her gym friends, crunching and pushing and pulling and lifting things that would make the fittest of people look at her with shock and fear. Instagram gave her quite the platform to show off or rather document this aspect of her journey as she walked on a part to better health.

Her Instagram follower count had already crossed the two thousand mark and is ever increasing, as fitness freaks from all around the world check her pictures and videos out. And what is more, spending time at the gym is not the only thing that keeps her going.

She is an absolute adrenaline junkie, rock climbing with ease and taking immense joy in it.

To be succinct, she is a textbook epicurean, who lives life to the fullest.

To us millennials, crushed under a workload that we can’t bear and a competitiveness that we can’t often live up to, people like Doña Geralda are inspirational. If even one person joins a gym or decides to jog every morning, Doña Geralda will be winning in life.  And to be honest, so would the millennial in question.

I know I am getting a membership soon!

 

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