In the spring of 2021, I started following a woman on Instagram, she danced in her driveway. I honestly thought it was a little cheesy but there was something contagious about her joy. And secretly, I kind of wished I could have the same "who cares what people think, just do what you love" attitude.

After a year or so, I lost track of her because I was rarely on Instagram. But a few months ago, she popped back up in my feed. Y'all, she had moved from California to New York, had trimmed down and was taking dance classes. No more cheesy... just wow! (She's in her early 50's)

Her dream had been to be a Broadway dancer and when she left New York to care for her parents, she put her dream aside for many years. A few weeks ago she was on Good Morning America and then she got to be a part of the cast of Chicago, on Broadway, for one night. I saw a video of that night, she was amazing!! She recently posted a quote that has been such an inspiration to me, "As soon as you feel too old to do something, do it and prove yourself wrong."

I mentioned once that Scott took me on my first official hike, around 1988, to Cloudland Canyon. A few years later, after we married, he gave me my first real (film back then) camera for our second Christmas. And a secret dream was planted... don't laugh, but I dreamed of being a photographer, trim and fit, with a braid over her shoulder, hiking to beautiful places with my camera. But life got busy and I didn't prioritize fitness. We still hiked, but often it was so hard.

At the end of January this year, we started walking a few times a week to get ready for our trip to Death Valley and Joshua Tree. We didn't prioritize it, so it was hit or miss, but it still made a difference and I was surprised at how much I could hike on our trip. And we kept walking, when we got back. Then Italy... I said this in another post, but if I had understood what I was saying yes to, on that town to town walk, I would have been too afraid to try. But again, I surprised myself. And that dream (minus the braid over the shoulder ) was given new life, still with the camera, but I've added a piece too, writing about it. I've always loved to write.

When we started walking in January, we were averaging a 24 minute mile. (that was all me, I constantly whined that Scott's legs were longer than mine and I couldn't keep up. He is the most patient man on the planet.) But after Italy, we made walking and fitness a priority and we've been getting up around 6am to walk so we don't have excuses later in the day. This morning, our opening mile was 16:01 and today was supposed to be an "easy" day. And we're starting to lay out a plan for increasingly more difficult hikes and doing other things to train for those hikes. We want to see places we can't see from the car.

Whatever your dream is, don't leave it in a corner gathering dust and regrets. Pick it up, prioritize it and go after it. I wish I hadn't waited so long, but better late than never.