If Jim can learn to lift 345lbs of metal above his head at age 67, you can learn to draw no matter what your age. This true story proves it…
My friend Jim is a retired 67 year old millionaire. He worked his whole life at the family business, then sold his portion to go into retirement. We meet in my drawing class in Santa Fe. Jim wanted to learn to draw and paint realistically and had
never set a pencil to paper in his life. He struggled so hard with it, he thought it was impossible at his “old age”. I didn’t believe this because my grandmother plays bridge at 94, her and I share the same birthday, and she’s the sharpest lady I know to date! Here is the miraculous story of how he succeeded despite his age and background.
when I got to Santa Fe, I did not know what to expect. Turns out I was the only 24 year old in the city. I had no car, no family, just me and my art in the middle of the high desert. The people in my classes were great, we became thick as thieves in no time. They enjoyed my classes and I enjoyed having them.
Jim had been a yoga guy for most of his life, and I had spent a good amount of time lifting heavy weights with body builders. He offered to hire me to train him at the local gym. He took a wad of dollar bills and stuffed them into my hand. I reluctantly obliged and said okay, I”ll do it…. Be ready at 6 am sharp monday morning.
We arrived at the gym and the first machine we started with was the leg press. This is where you sit and push all the weight with both legs, and repeat. I put 90 lbs on it, and Jim FREAKED out. He got up and said NO WAY MAN!.. I encouraged him to just try it. He did, and squeezed out a dozen of them with mild effort.
We stuck to the plan for the next 5 weeks. Every time Jim said “I can’t do that!” or ”No way!”, or my favorite excuse ” But I’ve never done that MUCH!” I would persuade him otherwise with a stern but caring “Make it happen”, “you don’t know until you try”, or on the particularly winey days “suck it up Jim-bo”. To watch someone grow and emerge a more empowered confident version of themselves day after day, week by week was truly gratifying.
On the 8th week we did everything as scheduled except one exorcize. The leg press. With out a word I stacked the steel plates one by one, until it reached 8. Jim conjured up his vast business skills, doing the math in his head.
When his brain reached the grand total of 360 lbs and change he exploded “WHAT!”, I’m gonna die…
etc, etc….
I calmly looked at him and said “Jim, make it happen”. He bluffed and blustered, about his
age and the risks, then sat down in the machine cockpit. He took 3 deep breathes, then dialed in
his focus, energizing every fiber of his legs. His face flushed red, then purple. He sputtered spit, and white knuckled the hand grips. I jumped up to grab the safety lever, when
hooooyaaaaa! Jim squeezed his first press out, YES! Then another, then another, until he finally finished with 5.
We both fell into silence at the gravity of his achievement. On the ride back from the gym , Jim turned and said “I can’t believe that I did that…(panting) that was the best feeling in the world.” I just smiled and soaked up the feeling of gratitude from this awesome moment. I knew he could do it. The same thing happened with his art work, his stuff got better and better every week, until at the end he jumped into painting and took it to new heights.
When class was out Jim said emphatically… Learning to draw is cake compared to lifting weights at 67. Anything is possible.”
