Hello you lovelies,
I want to talk about a woman who exemplifies for me what personal strength looks like.
Jane Fonda keeps getting better. She continues to move between Hollywood and the gym, to advocacy and activism, and she’s a sneakerhead like me. I want to be like Jane.
At 87, Jane embodies the physical, mental, and moral strength that I aspire to. Getting older does not mean becoming less. Age – yes it’s a just a number – is the accumulation of years that you’ve been lucky to be alive, evolving, learning, being better all the time. Here’s Jane: Live intentionally. Know where you want to go so you can get there!
I think you’ll love her interview on Julia Dreyfus’ AWESOME podcast, Wiser Than Me where she’s open and honest. Also have a listen to my other favorite, We Can Do Hard Things with Jane F-ing Fonda.
Why I want to be like Jane
1. She keeps moving. Jane Fonda was a sex icon, she revolutionized fitness, and she’s still doing it. She looks damn good now, and Jane led at home workouts with her famous tapes way before the explosion of boutique gyms and on-demand workouts. She made fitness accessible, fun, and stylish (high thigh leotards and leg warmers!). Now with her new Meta workouts in videos last year, she’s in virtual locations, in wacky settings, like in one workout called “Box With Jane And Ludacris” she’s proving that strength, and fun doesn’t have an expiration date.
2. She’s an outspoken advocate. Jane stands up for her beliefs, sometimes being jailed, like during her controversial protests against the Vietnam War. She’s been an activist for decades, still fighting for Climate Justice, Women’s Rights, and Equality. She’s fearless and bold, which is is exactly what the world, especially women need more of right now.
3. She’s mentally and emotionally strong, she’s faced personal health, marriage struggles, career comebacks, and reinventions with resilience and grace. She’s navigated challenges with determination and honesty. Her strength and (my new favorite word) durability confirm to me that evolution should be constant, and reinvention is always possible, no matter where we are in life.
5. She owns her age. Women tend to be made to feel invisible in general, and it’s worse as we get older. We might be called out for being “bossy” “pushy”, then with age we’re called frail, fragile, weak, feeble. Jane is confident, brave, and rebellious supporting causes, speaking up against a political leader she abhors. She pushes boundaries, and she’s my model for not letting negative adjectives define me – that life won’t slow me down unless I let it. And I won’t.
I aspire to be like Jane. I plan on staying active, speaking up, being strong in mind, spirit and body, standing on my convictions and values, and I’ll continue sharing that message with other women.
As Jane powerfully said in her Lifetime Achievement Award speech: “…woke just means you give a damn about other people.”
Let me know if you have a personal model for your life. I’d really love to know about the strong women you admire.
x
Polli
