Noelle Nelson, 75½, argues that longevity comes from shedding self-limiting beliefs and others' opinions. She competes in ballroom dancing and credits her fearlessness and sense of purpose for her vitality, comparing adult mental barriers to the freedom toddlers have when they explore without doubt.
Chapters
You look at a toddler, they don't know that crawling has to lead to walking. They don't know what's going on or anything else. But it's sort of like nothing stops them, which is why we call it the terrible twos, right? They get into everything. They have no self-limiting beliefs. At that point in time, we are truly innocent in the best sense of the word. And I think that one of the glories of being older, which I appreciate enormously, is I don't care anymore what anybody thinks. And that has taken— I mean, I'm not going to break the law. You understand what I mean? I don't care. For example, I'm a competitive ballroom dancer. I really don't care what other people might think of that. I mean, I'm 75 and a half, thank you very much. And I'm out there on the competitive floor and I'm having a ball, literally, no pun intended. Yeah. And it's, again, not that I'm so special, but I have learned from these amazing— not to hold myself back with what you call so accurately self-limiting beliefs.