While I was walking to meet my trainer for an hour-long session tonight, I passed a bookstore. The title of one of the books in the window caught my eye (my startled awake moment). The cover read: “Not That Kind of Girl.” That got me thinking about what kind of girl I am and what kind of girl I want to be. (Thinking about your life is not necessarily a good thing to do while boxing; thinking about boxing is what you should be doing while boxing.)

I am holding my little sister (at my birthday party???)

Here I am at what appears to be a birthday party for me (or perhaps cake after dinner). Because I am holding my little sister (who is also my goddaughter), I am guessing there are 18 candles on that cake and, so, I am about to graduate from high school. (It’s hard for me to believe that I am actually sharing this picture with you! I hope I had really big hair once those curlers came out.) Because my mother is still alive and would (might?) be shocked by the shenanigans I pulled, I won’t share the mischief (such a nice, generic word) that I got into with my two best friends that year. However, as a girl who attended Catholic grade school and went to mass every Sunday, even I knew that it it was wrong to be “that kind of girl!” I am guessing that the meaning back in the 70’s still holds true today.

So, what kind of girl do I want to be now that I am 60?

• I want to be the strong and carefree girl who is portrayed by the statue on the top of this building at Chicago and the river.
• I want to be the girl who is so healthy that she breezes through the next forty years of life.
• I want to be the girl who takes a scuba diving vacation in Fiji and then heads to South Africa for a photo safari (both planned for 2015) and then … decides to see the rest of the world.
• I want to be the girl who embraces change and always believes anything is possible.

The art deco statue on top of the One River Place building in Chicago.

Looking at my toes and the sky while doing yoga at Lincoln Park Zoo this summer.

Seahorses at the Shedd Aquarium (that I hope to see in Fiji).