Shine

Do you ever look in the mirror and wonder what happened to that young, attractive woman? I’m sure this is a struggle that goes on inside every woman as she approaches an age that is considered by society to be old or older. How can we be sexy, beautiful and passionate if we are old? The better question is how can we not? We have shed so much of the mundane and the worries. It’s time to embrace the wisdom, the confidence, the not caring about opinions. We can still dance, sing, create, celebrate, learn, and find passion. It is NEVER too late.
Marketing is designed to appeal to youth or scare us into believing we need to look and act as young as we can as if there is something wrong with aging. What we do need to do is look healthy, vibrant and interested. We can still find ways to express ourselves and forge new pathways of self fulfillment. We can find ways to be energized by living. There is still so much to feel and do.
Remember that old song by Anne Murray – “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar” Let’s change that to “I am an Older Woman, See Me Soar”
So go out and let your light shine because if you do that will make it easier for the rest of us.

What's Important

Think about it, either you age or you die. The way I see it is that then we should be grateful that we are aging. So why not choose to age not only with grace but as healthy as you can? Yes, that means eating right AND exercising. There are many people who are choosing healthier lifestyles as they get older. They are pushing limits of what we perceive aging means. We can all participate in that. We can learn, we can teach, we can reach milestones, we can feel good. So look in the mirror and ask yourself what your goals are when you wake up in the morning and realize that you have been given another day to do with as you will. Be bold, be generous, be blissful. Go out and live!

A Hero

At the moment, I have a new hero. Her name is Penny Palfrey, a 47 year old grandmother, who within the next 20 hours she will attempt an epic swim. Her goal is to swim over 72 miles across the Kaieiewaho Channel. It is the only Channel in the Hawaiian Islands that has never been crossed while swimming. Her projected finish time is between 30-40 hours. If she completes her goal it will be the longest unaided, nonstop open ocean swim in history. When a reporter asked her why she is doing this, her answer was simple. She said it is because no one has done it before and she was told it was not possible.

What is amazing about her is not that she might finish but that she is willing to try. She must contend with winds, ocean swells, the depth of the water, sealife and possible hypothermia. She's brave, daring and maybe a little crazy. You can watch her progress: www.kozhawaii.com

I send her my positive thoughts and the knowledge that she is in good hands. My brother, Jeff, 50, is her paddleboard guide and his friend Bill Goding, 57, is the alternate guide. Although not old, they are pushing some of the perceived limits we have about getting older. YEAH!

A Beautiful Body?

What exactly is a beautiful body? Well, it has nothing to do with age, size or shape. Not if you really think about it. What really matters is if the body is capable of feeling, does it have a connection to bliss, to the heart, to the soul? Is it able in its own way to dance, bounce, move, giggle? Forget anything about "supposed to" when it comes to your body. Love it no matter what it looks like. Don't buy into society's silly expectations.

Just listen to someone battling a debilitating illness and you will see that they are not obsessing about a flat stomach or wrinkles. Their perspective is different. It has moved from the trivial to the real. So let's get real. All of our bodies are beautiful. We just haven't realized that yet and when we do there will be one long collective sigh. A sigh that will mean we finally understand, we can finally stop being so petty and mean to ourselves. The time is close, the pendulum swings. We need to be the change we want to see.

Wrinkles

In our society today, wrinkles are supposed to be something we need to hide or get rid of or be ashamed of. Well, what a stupid concept. They will eventually happen to everyone and it's about time we started looking at them as badges of honor.

Really now which ones would you trade in anyway? Maybe the laugh lines you got from giggling for years at the antics of your children? Maybe the sad lines that appeared after ages of seeing the homeless, senseless wars and starving children, those feelings that reached up from your soul and gave you compassion? Maybe you now wish to go back and live a passionless life without caring and feeling? That would be the only way to avoid those characteristics. So instead let's embrace them. Let's show all the women to come that life is about living with emotion and feeling and passion. That's what gives us character. We are beautiful just the way we are. How dare society see us any different than that.

Memory

Happy 2010!
For those of us who have been around a long time, it's hard to believe that this year has arrived. How are your resolutions going? Make any? I made lots of them but already have forgotten some due to the fact that I didn't write them down. What an excuse! Never used that one before. Another gift we receive with the aging process: memory lapses. What can we do? I suppose we can remain silent so we are the only ones who know. I sure don't like that nonaction. Or we can erupt in a deep belly laugh and make everyone around us including ourselves feel better. I'm all for feeling better! Now go into your day ready to fill it with laughter.

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.