I’ve decided to start saying “yes” to trying new things. They say learning something new is great for older adults—it sharpens memory (which I desperately need) and helps you rediscover yourself. Rediscovering myself? That sounded pretty cool! So…

I tried fencing.

One of my boxing buddies was raving about the joys of fencing, and I thought, Why not? How hard could it be? I mean, I’d seen The Princess Bride. Surely, I could wave a sword around like Inigo Montoya, right?

At fencing class, I was handed a helmet and a wooden sword. Then the instructors began shouting out actions for us to perform. But none of the words were in English. Was that French? German? Italian? What on earth was I supposed to do?

Before long, it was clear I was struggling. Everyone else seemed to be advancing while I was… not. Thankfully, a kind instructor took me under his wing for some one-on-one help.

I didn’t want to disappoint this lovely young man, so I tried. I really did. I kept telling myself, This is bringing me joy. I’m rediscovering myself.

But about 30 minutes in, the joy had officially fled, and the only thing I rediscovered was how much I needed a break!

• I couldn’t see (the helmet had plastered my hair across my face).
• I couldn’t hear (the enthusiastic yelling drowned out everything).
• And I definitely couldn’t understand. “Peni, just do blah blah blah,” he kept saying. What in the world did blah blah blah mean?

Finally, the session ended. I handed over my sword, yanked off the helmet, and let the sweet light of day hit my face.

Then, the lovely young instructor, who had tried so valiantly to teach me, asked with a hopeful smile, “Well, did you enjoy it?”

I looked straight into his eyes and said, “Absolutely!”

And it wasn’t even a lie. The joy was there—not in the fencing itself (that was a one-and-done for me), but in witnessing someone so passionate about their sport trying to share it with others, even someone as utterly inept as me.

So, start saying “yes” to new things. You never know—you might find some unexpected joy along the way!

—Peni