She isn't iconic for no reason. Jane Fonda looked like a beauty back in her days and she is still rocking it. The only thing that's changed is that she got wiser.
Actress. Activist. Fitness guru. Gorgeous. Confident. Proud to be who she is. Jane Fonda. The iconic actress isn't just known for her acting prowess and beauty that has her stunning people even while in her 80s. From keeping herself fit to loving herself at her age, she's got tips that every woman needs to know on getting older, being single and taking care of herself.
So what are those tips?
Getting older isn't a ball. We might yearn to be younger. Who doesn't want that youthful energy, beauty, and fitness. It's not a conscious effort but it can be exhausting and many of us would love to go back to our 20s. But maybe it doesn't have to be that way.
Talking to Ellen Degeneres, Jane says that she never wants to go back to that time. In fact, for her, getting older is great. "It's the getting wiser part [that's] pretty nice, too ... I don't have as much ego-stake in outcomes. If something doesn't work out, eh," she said with a shrug, according to A Plus. "If you have a whole lot of time behind you, and just a little in front of you as is the case with me, I can look back and say 'well, I survived that.' Friends have died, there [have] been divorces, there [have] been all kinds of difficult things — I survived."
"You don't sweat the small stuff," she added. "You don't make mountains out of molehills." She also mentioned that she found people at her age were less hostile and anxious and were actually more emphatic. "It's just really cool."
"I'm 80 years old, and I can honestly say that this is the best part of my life. This is not what I expected at all, and I'm not finished," she told the Daily Mail.
Fitness gets her heart pumping literally and figuratively. Though she's had her struggles with bulimia, hip and knee replacements, osteoarthritis, and body image issues in her 40s, she's not about to stop her fitness routines. "I’m never going to stop. The most important thing is to keep moving, to stay active. That’s what I do and that’s how to stay strong," she told the Daily Mail.
"The mistake that so many people make is that if they can’t do what they once did, then they don’t do anything. Big mistake," she said to Express UK. "We can allow our various infirmities to define us or we can say to ourselves, 'I want to stay independent as long as possible. I want to be able to sit on the floor and play with my grandchildren. I want to carry at least some of my own luggage and not take 15 minutes to get out of a car.'"
Jane is nowhere near letting herself retire. "I needed a steady job. It’s hard to be an older actor and be in regular work – people forget this is how we earn our living," she told the Daily Mail. "I support other people besides myself and I need to bring in money. Plus, it’s fun. I never would have thought that at my age I could say I’ve been working too hard to spend time pampering myself, but I’m happy to say that’s the case." And it's evident she loves what she does especially since she reprised her role in the Netflix Original, Grace and Frankie.
The iconic actress has had three marriages, and now at 81, she's "closed up shop down there." She even told Vanity Fair that “I’m single, which makes me very happy.” But it didn't come without its difficulties. Her third marriage and divorce to Ted Turner brought her to an important revelation. "I cannot be in a relationship with a man', Jane said, according to the Daily Mail. 'I had several serious relationships after Ted, but I can’t… That is my failing. I realise I can never overcome it. That when I’m with a man, I give up myself."
"For the bulk of my life, I would say up until my seventies, I spent my life like a double image, like a double exposure. As an adolescent, in order to fit in, I made sure no one – especially boys or men – could see who I really was; that I could get really angry, that I could not be pretty, that I could be tough. I went through life not whole. And when I left Ted, I could feel myself moving back into myself. That is the main thing about the third act as I’m living it. I am no longer a double image. I am both things now together."
Her true aha! moment happened on the third day after her break with Ted Turner. She says in a blog on Oprah, "I don't need a man to feel whole." In my marriages, I'd lost parts of who I was because I was trying to mold myself into what I thought a man wanted me to be. But in that moment, I felt all those pieces flying back together."
She loves being 80, according to BW Magazine. She told them that she is living 'the best part' of her life but never really believed she would reach her age. "I never thought I would get to 80, and if I could have imagined what I would be, should I ever do the unlikely thing of living that long, I saw myself as a grouchy old woman; never that it would be a happy time for me," she said. "I'm 80 years old, and I can honestly say that this is the best part of my life. This is not what I expected at all, and I'm not finished," she said.
Well, her wisdom could go on but one thing is for sure. She certainly makes us feel better being ourselves.
References:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6051985/Jane-Fonda-reveals-80-best-life.html
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/378569/Jane-Fonda-I-ll-never-stop-working-out
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/05/jane-fonda-says-she-is-not-dating-anymore
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/jane-fonda-interview-finding-happiness-alone-loving-yourself
https://www.wmagazine.com/story/jane-fonda-no-more-men
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jane-fonda-73-opens-past-regrets-older/story?id=14254883
https://www.prevention.com/fitness/a20686775/jane-fonda-age/
https://articles.aplus.com/a/jane-fonda-aging-wisdom-ellen-degeneres?no_monetization=true
