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Why It’s Better to “Look for the Good”
We need Zelda’s lesson now more than ever.
A commenter on a recent podcast survey for Crow's Feet requested “topics that bring more cheer and zest to the aged and not topics that expand on disabilities.”
That suggestion sums up everything I learned from “my old ladies” — friends in their 90s and 100s I started collecting in my mid-forties.
Zelda put it succinctly, “Look for the good.”
Zelda lived to almost 105. She was a beacon in the territory of Old Age, inviting me and inspiring me to make the journey as she did: with love, unfailing energy, positivity, and, of course humor. Zelda knew as many dirty jokes as uplifting sayings. She loved to perform — on stage and on the playing field, in the pool.
She walked three miles a day and played tennis until she hit 99. Into her hundreds, she visited and entertained at “seniors,” as she called them, although most were younger. She wowed everyone with her personality — and incredible memory. Zelda manufactured The Good.
Make no mistake, Zelda knew The Bad. She buried two husbands, went several rounds with cancer, and by the time we met had lost most of her family and friends, too.
None of it broke Zelda.
