Kim and I as retired James Bond and his Bond Girl. Halloween 2016.
Guest post by Jeff Greenwalt, Kim’s husband.
I’ve watched her for 15 years. She maintains her energy, passion for living…well, I guess you’d say her vibrancy.
Why is this? My best conclusion is it’s because of her badassedness. Yes, this is a word – at least if you were at a business leadership off-site meeting I recently attended….badassedness became a proud identifier of one of our leadership teams.
Badassedness is pushing forward and not clinging to the past. It’s about challenging your own limitations, beliefs and habits. It’s about saying “I can wear leather pants and spiked heels at sixty, sixty-five, or seventy…because I like them.” “Screw what anyone else thinks.” Or (one of my favorites) wearing a cat suit to play a ‘Bond girl’ for Halloween just a month shy of turning 59…and yes, I love those badass over the knee boots.
Badassedness is being a bit of a rebel, a destroyer of the status quo, a challenger of conventional thought. It’s about facing your fears, like when she was afraid of heights and deliberately pushed herself to go up in a hot air balloon or hike the rim tail of Conkel’s Hollow at Hocking Hills State Park.
Four layers on top.
Badassedness shows up on a winter’s day when she’s in the comfortable surroundings of her home, snow is falling and it’s bitterly cold outside…but she hauls herself off the couch, puts on multiple layers of clothes and heads out for her power walk. “Screw the weather, my health is more important.”
Badassedness is not caving into my (or others) opinions and judgments. I’ve tried so many times to convince her of how right I am on any given topic, only to be met with a case of badass resistance (yes guys, this is actually a good thing) that highlights that she has her own mind, opinions and often sees things very different from me. Badassedness is making any decision based on your values rather caving into the expectations of other people.
Badassedness shows up every time she boxes. What?! Sixty year old women aren’t supposed to box, roll around on a sweaty, smelly gym floor to work their core muscles…are they? “Jab, cross, hook, slip that punch” Badassedness is sweaty, tough, gritty and driven.
I’m not saying you should wear tight leather pants, spiked heels, box or tell your partner he’s full of shit…but to stay vibrant, I suggest you find your own kind of badassedness and wear it like a badge of honor. Kim does and I love her for it.