A while ago my husband and I saw the new Harrison Ford movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

I have been an Indiana Jones fan since Raiders of the Lost Ark fist came out (Gasp! How could it be?) 42 years ago.

I admire the chutzpah of Harrison Ford who, at 80 years of age, returned to his temple-tromping, globe-galivanting ways as the intrepid archeologist Dr. Indiana Jones. Although he has kept himself in remarkable shape, my limbs ached for him as I left the theatre, thinking about how rigorous it must have been making this action flick. Oh, I know they use stunt doubles, but still….

It’s hard to believe that first movie was so far in the past. It feels as if it were maybe 10 or 15 years ago. 

That’s the funny thing about time: all time is not equal. When you look forward, time elongates (think about the child waiting for Christmas or crossing off the weeks until vacation). When you look back, time contracts (How long has it been since high school…or your wedding?).

Honestly, it was hard to see the way this once-dashing figure was portrayed… as an aging, curmudgeonly figure, now lonely and living alone in a slovenly little apartment, being barely feted by fellow University colleagues as he retires. No one is present who knows or can acknowledge or remark on the character’s grand adventures or incredible contributions to archeology. As my husband remarked, Indie was always better at adventure than real life.

What is interesting in this film–and what makes him so cantankerous in the first place (which we discover only late into the film)–is that he is wrestling with his own internal demons while wrestling throughout the movie with external ones. Many of you who were were introduced to Indie’s escapades in the early movies might find parts of the film–especially the beginning– a bit disconcerting, in part, because it’s a reminder of our own mortality. 

Interestingly, about the same time as we saw the movie, motivational speaker and consultant Pam Sherman took on this exact theme in her monthly newsletter. She talked about recent knee surgery, waking up with her head in “the wrong place,” and ultimately deciding to embrace and celebrate the things that were working. She ended with the adage, “Age is Just a Number: Embrace the Possibilities.”

She’s right, of course. If Harrison Ford can take on making an action film—with its long hours and rigorous mental and physical challenges—at 80, we owe it to ourselves to take on whatever new and exciting ventures or adventures we are up for at whatever age we are! I’m with Pam…Embrace the possibilities!

P.S. I won’t give away the plot, but I will just say that the film has the traditional level of wildly entertaining adventures and ends with an upbeat, satisfying ending.

Originally written for the July 13 issue of BeyondtheNest, Rochester’s Weekly Guide to Arts, Culture and Recreation