What All Boomers Can Learn From Kirstie Alley

All right, well, it’s official now. Kirstie Alley’s debut performance on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) was no fluke.  If you don’t believe me, watch it yourself at Dancing With The Stars and see just how a sixty year old can move her body with energy, musicality and grace under tremendous pressure.

And she did it again on the second Monday of the new series. At the risk of sounding very 80s, “you go girl!”

It takes real courage as the celebrity participants struggle to makes their bodies do what their minds insist is impossible. Big egos are humbled and bargain basement self-esteem is bolstered every week in two-minute twirls across the ballroom floor.

Kirstie is teamed with bad boy, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. No doubt the network put Misoginistic Maks up to it when he commented in the video intro blurb that Kirstie “does not act her age at all. 60? She looks very good.”

I admit at first my expectations were low thinking Kirstie was intended as the “slightly dotty, over-the-hill” celebrity contestant. Then I, like the judges, practically fell off my perch at her jaw dropping performance quality.

So, here’s what all boomers can learn from Kirstie:

1.  Face your fears and try something new. Kirstie was asked for years if she would join the cast and ultimately she conquered her reservations and said YES.

2. Don’t let your mind get in the way of moving your body. Thinking too much is over-rated. Nike is right, just do it.

3. Compete like someone half your age. Kirstie is up against models, athletes and actors with youth on their side, but she’s showing us all that sixty is not past our prime.

4. Push yourself to your aerobic limits once in a while.  Kirstie drew the ragged asthmatic breaths of an over weight midlife matriarch and she smiled through the pain.

5. Sexy does not mean letting your ass hang out. Kirstie’s tailored slinky-ness was as appealing as those skimpy costumes that feature exposed abs and toned arms.

6. Endorphins are über-healthy. Kirstie’s flashing grin of pure joy did us all heaps of good. As the saying goes, “I want what she’s having.”

7. Doing the right things the right way matters. Kirstie did the damn dance steps rather than taking the usual funny lady option of flailing and mugging for laughs. She did the work and learned it.

8. Confidence and a powerful personality really matter in life. Don’t let “people pleasing” put a damper on the real you, show ’em what you got. Kirstie is Authentic with a capital “A”.

When her first dance was finished, the crowd rose up off their chairs. Maks was less than a gentleman when he quipped “after 20 minutes in our first practice she had a minor heart attack.” He’ll get the whole picture soon enough.

Kristie has more than enough moves to go the distance and make the AARP set proud. She is a boomer with balls.  Her guts and glamor make me smile.

The gossip is that her high powered Hollywood friends can more than afford to buy her the votes she needs to triumph. But I think her admirers in the Boomer Generation will push her over the top.

Kirstie Alley has my vote. Does she have yours?

Tags: baby boomer, body, confidence, Dancing With The Starts, endorphins, fears, Kirstie Alley, learning, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, midlife, mind, People pleasing, personality, smile