Gray has Joined the Club
I did it. I made it to THE club. I am officially part of the 50 & Wiser Club.
How does it feel to be 50? Pretty darn AWESOME.
As I see it, turning 50 is a privilege not everyone gets to enjoy. Thus, I decided not to dread turning 50, but rather take this new stage by the horns and celebrate life.
One of the ways I decided to celebrate my 50th year was to photograph 50 women, 50 & Wiser. Hence the start of the 50 & Wiser Club. Teaming with the Go Girls Foundation has given the project so much more significance and life!
An important part of the project is each of the woman’s stories. During our photoshoot we sit down and have a girl’s chat. During this chat I hear how their life has unfolded and the wisdoms they have gained along the way. Today I would love to share a few of these golden nuggets. It doesn’t matter if you are 50, older or younger, man or woman … these are all good things to remember.
Life is far from over at 50, the best is yet to come. Get ready for the good stuff.
Trust your gut. The powers above gave us our intuition for a reason. Intuition is a form of knowledge that appears in consciousness without obvious deliberation. It is not magical but rather a faculty in which hunches are generated by the unconscious mind rapidly sifting through past experience and cumulative knowledge. What I have learned, is not to overthink things. If the gut says it is right, most likely it is. If not, well, then you can deal with it.
Forget FOMO (The Fear of Missing Out). Be happy where you are physically and mentally because the grass is rarely greener elsewhere. FOMO is an attitude of lack and deprivation – the belief that something important is passing us by. Instead of paying attention to what we already possess, we’re chasing something else. We forget appreciation and gratitude. When we start paying attention to the good things in our lives, and giving thanks for them, our sense of completeness grows. We’re less inclined to feel inadequate or envious, and better able to find joy in the here and now.
People often ask me where I like better, Australia or the United States. I like to say, “Bloom where you are planted.” If you pine for somewhere else, you’ll never get the most out of where you are now. So, plant your feet wherever you are and blossom!
Take time to rest. When we were kids and got tired, we took a break. In fact, our parents and teachers planned for them. They were called “nap time,” “recess,” and “bedtime,” and no one expected us to function all day every day without them. We may be grown up now, but the reality is that we need to rest. We need to put away our to-do lists and relax in ways that make us feel happy and re-energized. We might need to sit quietly, take a walk, sing a song, paint a picture, read a book, climb a tree, or watch the sunset.
To treasure is to hold on to a few precious things not to hoard a whole lot of everything. Rather than rushing through a “bucket list” a mile long, be more like Henry David Thoreau, who chose to “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”
Nurture relationships. Be they with your partner, your children, your parents, your friends or even your neighbour. It is proven that people with a sense of community live longer. And like anything worth keeping, relationships take effort too. Also, don’t forget your relationship with yourself.
Resilience is more than important - it is key. And like a muscle, it needs to be exercised to be strengthened. When we go through tough times, that is when we strengthen our resilience to help us later in life.
A little tip I found, choose to under-react. The reality is that sometimes things go smoothly and sometimes they don’t. Taking time to respond thoughtfully, with grace, will help put the little difficulties into perspective and give you the resilience to handle the real problems that occur. You’ll have a better chance of making decisions based on fact rather than frustration and fear.
Hobbies are vital. They give us time to focus in a different way. To reset the busy mind. And hopefully my new hobby of beekeeping will eventually give us the sweet reward of honey too!
Find your passion, make it your purpose. It’s not necessary, but it sure helps make life more fun
Love they self. No matter your wrinkles or your tummy size. Embrace what you have. Preparing to go on my 50th birthday trip with my husband, I was not the body I hoped I’d be. Rather than beating myself up about it, or trying to hide it, I decided to embrace it. I went to swimwear galore and asked them to help me find the most flattering bathers. Did you know they make bathers out of spanks material?? I walked out with an one piece and two bikinis - I didn’t even go the spanks route.. And they were perfect!
To wrap things up … no matter how old you are, it’s time to stop wasting (in the words of poet Marie Oliver) our “one wild and precious life.” I recently read an article by Deborah James, a BBC presenter and Professor who just found out she lost her battle to cancer. She says, “Find a life worth enjoying, take risks, love deeply, always have rebellious hope!”. Thank you Deborah, these are words I will always remember!
ALWAYS HAVE REBELLIOUS HOPE! LIVE A LIFE WORTH LIVING!
Watch out world, I have a lot more life that is worth living. With my family history, I estimate at least another 40-50 years!