Always Click The Top Link

No matter which of the five blogs you are on, always click on the Blogroll’s top link to go directly to the next blog. No more confusion. Gonna leave this reminder here for awhile. Scroll past this for today’s post.

Think About Making It Simple

How much is enough?  A famous and sultry actress from yesteryear, Mae West once said, “Too much of a good thing is wonderful”.

We can assume she wasn’t talking about stuff. Anyway, the question still remains. And some collect stuff that defies logic, common sense, basic hygiene, and fundamental organizational skills for practical living.

Excessive collecting can complicate relationships and alienate people from the ones they love, just for starters.

Most of us certainly don’t have the answers, nor do we have any appetite for supporting this behavior. If we did, would that make us co-dependent? Like being co-dependent with an alcoholic in denial?

Click here to read “Why do we collect so much stuff?”

Each day, do you attempt to simplify?  De-clutter?  Detoxify? Purge? Reevaluate?

What if you did?

Lane 8, Impossible?

“When everybody tells you that you are being idealistic or impractical, consider the possibility that everybody could be wrong about what is right for you.” — Gilbert Kaplan

John 3:16

Valentine’s Day.  Mid Life Celebration. Sunday, February 14, 2010.

Today’s thought is a simple one.

John 3:16

Brothers

Tell me.

Show me.

Involve me.

Common sense is hardly common practice.

If anyone has anything to help my Family find peace and comfort as we say good bye to our beloved Canine Son, Carter, please know you may leave comments here or email them to jeff.noel@me.com , if you’d like to remain private.

Generation Jones, No Cover

Just when you think you know it all, you are offered some new piece of information that nearly embarrasses you.

That’s what happened a few days ago when a Mid Life Celebration blog post comment shared some background data and a link to Generation Jones.

Generation Jones is not a band at Ladies Night, Generation Jones is somewhere between Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers, like born between 1954 – 1965.

Click here to view, if you have any interest, or skepticism.

Not sure I’m buying it, even if it’s “two-for one” night.

Get A Grip & Be Prepared

Ever wonder how you’ll handle all of the challenges you face today?

And let’s suppose we actually do get a handle on our overwhelming challenges, then what?

What are the odds that we’ll be overwhelmed again soon?

Maybe I should go back to drinking everyday.  After a few drinks, we are medicated enough to stop worrying about today – it can wait until tomorrow.  That’s a nice relief – no more worry today.

But it mostly can’t wait.  If we do wait, more stuff is added to our “pile”.

Then we reach for our “midlife medication”.

Why we fail to look in the rear view mirror and see what is coming is beyond me.

Well, it used to be beyond me. Now, it’s staring me in the face. Every day.

It’s a ton of work, but at least I’m being honest with myself.

Talk about mid-life peace of mind.

Well, not talk. Do.

Mental Stability, Mental Wellness

Find a million ways to get and stay motivated, right?

The Internet offers limitless opportunities to get valuable information. One of the things I do is experiment with various email subscriptions to helpful mid life health topics.

Everyday Health is one of those that gives more than I can keep up with. However, I do scan every email they send and here’s one that resonates. It may also help you.

Click here to gain insight on mid life hoarding and the possible link to OCD.

Insights and knowledge help us move closer to having Peace at Mid Life, even if we are, or know people, who are Hoarder’s (with or without OCD).

Florida Real Estate

As we all strive to stay alive in this brutal recession and down economy, it is the most creative and the hardest working that not only survive, but thrive.

How is it possible to thrive in a great depression?  Well, for starters, we’ve already mentioned it: be the most creative and hardest working in your industry.

Like this Central Florida Real Estate Agent.  She placed her business cards in the most creative and unusual place ever seen.  Shot a One-Take-You Tube video and posted it Super Bowl Sunday.

Yesterday, my Google Alert for Mid Life Celebration captured this viral spread of that You Tube video and the most amazing, simple, and creative Florida Real Estate Marketing you’ve seen in a long time.

Click here to check it out.  It’s brief (20 sec), powerful and it might just be the catalyst for your next successful, creative idea to market your business.

Are You Ready For Today?

Lists. Top ten lists.  Mid life.  Midlife lists. Midlife top ten lists.

Mind, Body, Spirit, Money.

Life’s Big Four.  Life’s four big decision areas.

All day long we make decisions around these four very simple concepts of mind, body, spirit and money. Mostly unaware.

Having answers to critical questions empowers us with a peace that is unknown to people still searching.

What they are searching for and why they pass by the obvious, is understandable and it is also sad. Humans are conditioned to complicate life. Complicated does not get us closer to peace.

Only discernment, organization and finally, determination to be focused and disciplined.

I know well. It’s taken me 50 years to figure it out.  Ok, I’m slow. But also determined.

There is hope for you and your dreams. If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times – there is no shortcut.

Rethink, Reprioritize, Recommit

Happy Monday everyone.  Hope you had a great weekend. I actually worked Saturday at my “real job” – yes, I’m a career employee at a large company.

This whole five daily blogs thing is like a hobby, like growing a garden or something. And as any avid gardener will tell you, “It’s a labor of love.”

Quite literally, a labor of love – for a child.

Anyway, back to the updates:

1.  Erika Liodice’s Mid Life Celebration Guest Blogger post yesterday was a first here. Please check out her site, Beyond The Gray, if you want a midlife perspective from a not yet 30-year old.  Erika gave me “my first big break” as a Guest Blogger.

2.  The numbers thing the other day. (gulp) Well, that was sort of like a time capsule to look back on later.

3.  February is about Peace. Peace to me means –  tranquility, balance, solace, contentment, harmony, simplicity, acceptance.

Relax and Enjoy?

“What can be added to the happiness of a person who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscious?” — unknown

If ever there was a logical goal in life, perhaps this one should be near the top.

Simple.

Elusive.

Impossible?

This is probably where we take a wrong turn. Somewhere. Somehow. It happens.

But we are completely unaware.  For a long time. A really long time. Maybe a couple decades.

We somehow miss the turn, get lost, and then end up at the proverbial midlife crisis.

It’s a ton of work to overcome decades of status quo.

It’s a ton of work to start a business. It’s a ton of work to get healthy and stay healthy. It’s a ton of work to save enough for retirement. It’s a ton of work to have a peaceful and contented spirit.

Everything is a ton of work.

It’s very similar to the early pioneers. This is the follow up video to the one from a few weeks ago. It was the burning sunset that prompted me to stop.

Unscripted and one-take, the way You Tube videos are traditionally done.

Spirit

Midlife heartbreak or midlife opportunity.  Pretty simple.  Two choices.  You get to pick one.

If you and your spouse (and yes, want to acknowledge some readers will not be parents), worked hard all your life and played by the rules, and you gave birth to a child without eyes and never able to walk, which would you pick?

Mid Life heartache or mid life opportunity?

Well, there was a Family that had to make this choice.  They were featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as well as numerous other media pieces, including a heartwarming You Tube Video feature, about 6 minutes long, available at the end of this post.

One of my “secrets” to unspeakable  joy is the daily effort to read, listen, watch, experience, think, do and reflect on the countless blessings that surround my ordinary life.

You have all these blessings too.  But in order to feel the Peace and Contentment that are the fruit of these blessings, you must become fully aware.

You must become willing to invest time everyday.  Even if it’s only six minutes. Will today be another day to postpone your new beginning?

If it’s not, click here.

No Easy Answer

Two simple choices:

1. Ease up and just deal with whatever comes your way
2. Proactively, relentlessly pursue a cure

They both have pros and cons.

Welcome to life – the real world.

Two Simple Choices. Pick One.