This is an inspiring episode and before you tuck into the blog – read Vicki’s own words about her approach to life.
Hi, I’m Vicki, 64 years old and a quirky weirdo who prides herself on being a total individual – even if this sometimes backfires! I am a mother to three handsome amigos and 2 cute grandsons.
I have always been and still am a very active, impulsive and adventurous person – not that I realised this until much later in life – and I thought I was the norm. I was a competitive basketball player, equestrian rider and in later years a wannabe runner, cyclist and Ironman competitor.
I am by no means naturally talented or athletic, but exercise has been a big part of my life for my mental well-being, stress release and sometimes escape from reality. I think looking back it has saved me many times from sinking into depression. I remember being bullied from a young age as I was different, my father died when I was 7, and a lot of emotional pressure was put on me by well-meaning relations – mother etc. – that I had to be the one to ‘look after your brother and sister’. I was diagnosed with severe hearing loss and not picked up until I was 21 – but unconsciously I learned strategies to get by, lip reading, avoiding people I couldn’t hear and being the class clown and rebel. I remember being very much a loner and spending a lot of time away all day on my horse or hiding with a book. Hence the rivers, the bush, and hiking became a very big part of my life and a happy place.
I love watching friends and family members discover exercise and love of being outdoors and how it makes them feel. I try and inspire others to get out and be healthy, try new things and don’t let age, size, or excuses get in the way.
We have one chance at life, we are all living longer so we want to give ourselves the best possible chance take risks, change jobs, surround yourself with positivity, look in the mirror every day and smile – it sets you up for the day!
Embrace what we have – we are born to be real not perfect.
Don’t regret the opportunities you were afraid to take and don’t ever be afraid to shine!
The Blog!
The aim of creating active lives – the podcast and the blog – is to help people who are currently inactive to create a little more activity into their daily life.
One of the main excuses I hear is “I’m too old” and this week, my guest Vicki Morrison is living proof that you are never too old to start to be active. She is just the living embodiment of the benefits of active life, but more importantly, she’s just such an absolute positive role model for how as you get older, activity is so important as part of your life and it’s never ever too late to start.
Vicki is 64 years old and lives in New Zealand but has travelled and worked all over the world. Much of her travel and activity only started 15 years ago when her life changed after divorce which shows it is never to late!!
She realised that she had two choices, wallow in self-pity or get out there and kick life in the butt, which is exactly what she did. She got up early and exercised before everyone was awake and this helped her to be more positive and productive. Then at 50 she was watching an Ironman and decided to do one – with no experience of triathlons, running or anything! After three Ironman competitions she decided enough but then went on to complete marathons in Berlin and New York and is heading to London next April.
Vicki lives in an amazing beach town and does something active every day, whether it’s a walk on the beach, or this morning she went to a spin class or a she may go for a run. She wakes up every day so grateful that she is able to do that. It does take discipline, but it’s a big part of her life, like brushing your teeth in the morning and she believes it’s so important that we don’t let age stop us from being really active.
While activity may be a conscious choice at first, the more you do it the more it becomes a habit, part of us and eventually it ends up being part of who we are, embedded into our DNA. And it doesn’t have to be the same thing – you may stretch one day, run, sail, paddleboard, do yoga, go to the gym, walk, hike, cycle, swim…the list of opportunities is endless really and it is that variety and finding something that you like doing that often keeps us going. After all, activity of any kind counts so you may as well enjoy it!
As well as her own activity, Vicki also works with young people and those with disabilities like learning disabilities or Down’s syndrome. She is a leader at the Outward Bound camps, including the ones that are in preparation for the Special Olympics and has worked in New Hampshire in the United States for Camp America and also on the water with the New Zealand-based Spirit of Adventure project which takes groups of young people and sails from Auckland to the Great Barrier Reef.
Working with these groups, particularly those with learning disabilities is a real passion for Vicki and it feels like a life purpose as she sees first-hand the difference it makes for the individuals. Not content with these opportunities, Vicki has also worked on cattle and sheep stations in remote parts of Australia and New Zealand. While these are by nature active opportunities, she made the most of them by keeping active and enjoying everything about the natural environment she was living in.
When you are active you start to see opportunities for all kinds of activity. These are always there, but when you aren’t open to them, they can pass you by and you miss out on what might be your next passion or experience. Whether is friends asking if you fancy going dancing, for a hike, a swim or a cycle, start to look for ways to bring activity into your life and enhance your body, mind, health and well-being just by moving more!
The key message is – you really are never too old but if you start to slow down, it is like being on a downward slope to inactivity, frailty and disability. So, get active, stay active and grab those opportunities to live a full life as long as possible.
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