INSPIRATION

I am back, willing to find ways to inspire women on their journeys through life. I've decided (again) to live an inspired life filled with passion and grace while making a difference in the world. I'M TRYING! Inspiration is everywhere: a child's laughter, an elderly grin, gorgeous flowers, a downpour............but I need more! I crave stories about the human spirit (please share yours). I want tips on how to look fabulous and ideas on how to act silly and move out of my comfort zone. Any suggestions are welcome!

STOP!

You know that a portion of this is our fault. Older women are unappreciated and not seen as beautiful by this society partly because we don't see it ourselves. By keeping our magnificence a secret we have allowed generations to overlook us. It's never too late but it must start within each of us. We must know that at whatever age we are, we can be an expression of wisdom and beauty. We need to feel it, walk it and talk it! Let self acceptance and self love override the embarrassment of telling our age or trying to hide our wrinkles. The only way others will see our beauty is if we see it ourselves. Let us pave the way for aging women. Let us help each other find our wise, gorgeous selves that we seem to have lost along with our youth. It's still there! We just need to coax it out. So instead of wasting time bemoaning our age or trying to get rid of our wrinkles or age spots let's eat healthier, exercise, appreciate others, learn something new every day and dream BIG! After all we are gorgeous, remarkable, wise and witty women. The world needs us and we need each other.

Never Stop Dreaming

Creative dreaming can and should happen at all ages. What's left if we stop? Waiting to die? Being bored with life? Let's just say NO to those questions and continue illuminating our paths with BIG plans. They can be short. One fabulous dream I read was, "I want to live every moment as a prayer." Beautiful, isn't it? Other dreams can go on for pages and pages. Length is irrelevant, creating is important. So start today and list those dreams.

Here are a few of mine:

I want to always have the courage to celebrate who and what I am and be comfortable in my own skin. I want to continue to write freely and inspire women with my words. I want live in the moment, sometimes being wild and crazy, and never be afraid of what others think of me. I want to live a healthy lifestyle and run another marathon. I want to inspire others to be kind and compassionate to people, animals, and the earth. I want to feed my soul with stories about how other people have improved their lives and gone on to help others achieve their dreams. I want to teach the world to dance. I want to release all judgements and know that we are all exactly where we need to be.

We Need to BE the Change We Want to See

How do we go about believing there is beauty in aging? Find aging role models. There are so many successful, fabulous, and beautiful older women. Some are famous and some are not. I have a fantastic role model. Her name is Bonnie and she is gorgeous. She has beautiful white hair with a spattering of grey. She has an uncanny sense about what looks good on her and what colors show off her tan. In her 80's, her positive attitude is infectious and her smile is contagious. I look at her and know that's what I want to be like in my 80's!

Not only should we find role models but we must also be them. Stop being envious of youth and start singing the praises of wisdom and wrinkles. Don't let another day go by without telling our daughters there is so much beauty in the older years. Start believing it! Remember you will never be younger than you are today. Revel in every day. Life is so short, don't spend one more second wishing you were younger. Love and accept who and what you are. In that loving you will find more reasons to improve - eat healthier, exercise your mind, body and soul, laugh often, and make peace with that reflection in the mirror.

Aging in a Society that Believes Only Youth is Beautiful

We grow older, breasts sag, wrinkles appear, energy levels change. Why do these things terrify us? Why do we spend so much time attempting to unnaturally forestall the physical manifestation of the aging process? It is shameful that as women we have turned our power over to an industry that's only use for us is our money. We are constantly bombarded with the mantra that "youth is beauty." We have bought into it - literally. We spend time and money trying to hold onto youth. What a waste! We are botoxed, face-lifted, breast augmented, fat sucked, peeled, dyed, and scared women.

On some level we know that this society does not have much use for us. How easy it is to lament this fact, to point fingers at a society who only sees us as aging old crones. It's time to take back our power! Society will never change if we don't change first. We must be the change we want to see. We can do that by seeing our own unique beauty, by imaging a society that respects age, that sees beauty in wrinkles and value in wisdom. Let's change that mantra to "aging is beauty." Let's embrace it and believe it! It has always been true. The problem has been that we have allowed that truth to be translated into a lie that makes a few wealthy and the rest of us feeling powerless and useless. Let's walk with our heads high, complimenting each other for our beauty, our power, and our wisdom. Don't worry about the rest of the world. They will eventually catch on if we persist.

How do we affect this change? Our daughters need aging role models who see their own beauty with pride. We need to compliment older women we see, daily. Mostly we need to embrace the changes we are going through and know that age brings a different kind of beauty, joy, and wisdom. Let's not spend one more minute apologizing for our wrinkles or hiding our age. Instead, let's wear them as badges of honor! We should be concentrating on healthy eating, exercising and learning new things every day.