Quotes Supply The Essence For Comprehension

Do you enjoy quotes? Most people do. What is it about quotes that draws us to them? For me, it’s the ability to summarize something profound in a small sound bite. It’s the simplicity that does it. What does it for you?

Here’s one of my favorites:

“It doesn’t matter what I say and do, it only matters what you say and do.”

Any guesses on who said that?

Do You Have The Guts To Change Direction?

When do we pursue change?

When do we resist change?

Mostly, in our humanness, we resist it. We are basically weak, fearful creatures.  And yet we know, instinctively, that change is the only constant.

If you want midlife peace, you must be willing to earn it. Earning it requires changing.

To read, “Changing Direction In Life”, by Dr Sheri Rosenthal, click here.

There is peace in our midlife journey, and peace in our realization that midlife change is good, even if it scares us to death.

Spring Grove, Pennsylvania

Mid Life Celebration readers, I am pleased to introduce our Guest Blogger, Lorie Sheffer, from York, Pennsylvania. Lorie and I graduated from Spring Grove Area High School in 1997 1977. Lorie has a spin on midlife that will entertain and enlighten you. You are in for a treat. Take it away Lorie….

My email box usually contains at least one “Stupid, clueless men” joke a week, sent by my gal pals. The most recent: Q: What is gross stupidity?  A: 144 men in one room.

This is one of the kinder jokes. Most involve man parts and the use/misuse of said parts. I’m not so politically correct or dishonest as to say some of this stuff isn’t pretty darned funny. But underneath it all there is this undercurrent of a battle of the sexes as to who has it rougher, especially when it comes to aging. As a woman who has always had male friends, I seem to find myself defending men more and more often these days.

I was out shopping with my grandson a few years ago and the check out girl at the grocery store, when speaking to him, referred to me as “Mom”. “She’s my grandmother”, Carter corrected her. I actually looked into that sweet little face of his and asked him to “Shut it!”  Actually, since I am trying to be honest, it was more of a hiss. Was I becoming so age obsessed that I had hoped if some kid who had an after school job checking groceries mistook grandma for mom that magically made it so?  As if “Grandmother” is a dirty word.  No wonder my grandson looked puzzled. To a small child, Grandma equals magic!

This was about the time the realization hit me. We women are so obsessed with our changing hormones and expanding waist, our hot flashes and our mood swings, we seem to forget that aging is no picnic for the men, either. We tend to talk about it, while men seem to remain quiet for fear of appearing weak. Notice what the overwhelming theme of the commercials are when “guy shows” are on TV. They usually involve a 50-something couple in claw foot bathtubs (I still don’t understand the tubs), baby boomers giving one another “that look” before dancing down the hallway toward the bedroom, or my personal favorite, the teenaged girls advising newly divorced Dad he would be dateable if he used some man-color on that gray hair of his. (Maybe someone should tell Mr. Clooney and Mr. Gere they would be attractive to women if only they hit the Grecian Formula.)

I honest to God have a male friend who colors his chest hair to cover the gray.  If men aren’t lucky enough to have hair TO color, then surely they can send for some Rogain. Because, grand sense of humor that God seems to have, men start to lose hair where they want it around the same time women sprout hair in places that send them running to the waxing salons in droves.

Our age group is being bombarded by an industry that is literally making billions of dollars by playing to our insecurities, when in fact most times all you need is some dim light and a little patience. Most men would be thrilled to have their wives call them sexy or hot of whatever words we use to describe the above-mentioned George and Richard. I would be willing to bet most men are so concerned with their own age related issues that they don’t notice if our legs (or chins) are freshly shaved.

Test it out; say something nice to your significant other. Give a genuine compliment once a day, and let them know you appreciate them. Really, I think that’s all any of us wants. Maybe if we all just stepped outside of ourselves and tried to see through the eyes of the opposite sex, we would realize that we all have our issues. We’re in this together.

A friend sent me an email forward photo of a pretty teenaged girl, circa 1968; below the photo was the question, “Where are the cute hippie girls from the 60s?”

I scrolled down to another photo, this of a totally naked, very overweight, out shape, gray haired woman in her 60s. She was covered with stretched out and faded tattoos of Woodstock era images. She wore only flip-flops as she walked down the street, head held high.  Amazingly, she looked happy.

Humor goes a long way, so long as the object of the joke is laughing WITH us.  As Robert Browning wrote over a century ago, “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.”

What’s waiting for you there today is an article – “Staying Active At Any Age”!

Click here to be magically transported to Lane 8.

PS.  Lane 8 is one of the five daily blogs I write and manage.

In mentioning to a work colleague that I recently read the first (in a NY Times best seller series), Guardians of Ga’Hoole book, and how refreshing it was to not read a business or self-help book, she said her doctor commented that this is a tactic to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

While I had never heard this before it made me feel good.  How often do we, as mid life adults, hear something totally unsubstantiated and automatically believe it’s true?

The real reason I started reading Guardians of Ga’Hoole is to find common ground with our son (9). Perhaps that’s a good antidote against aging too.

Yep.

Seriously?

Of course.  Getting older, our body isn’t the same as it was.  It’s easier to get hurt.  Easier to have physical limitations.  It’s called the aging process.

It can also happen mentally, spiritually, financially.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves”.  – Carl Jung

Like yesterday’s post, this is a reminder for me.  

Reminders, I believe, need to happen everyday.  And sometimes, all day.

We get distracted very easily as adults. 

Overwhelmed with life.

Overworked.

Over committed.

You name it, it’s easy to let go of the important, in order to medicate ourselves with the urgent.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I never said what I post here would be obvious.  Sometimes what you read here will require you to reread it and even spend some time reflecting on it.  Or not.

Choice is yours.  Always has been.  Always will be.  Happy choosing and carpe diem, jeff noel  :)