Happy Everything!

Two years ago I bought a white bowl with black letters inside touting: Happy Everything!

In January 1990 I published my first-ever article on doing spring cleaning on New Year’s Day. Like always I was the first person writing about something like this.

January is the perfect time to clear the cobwebs from our head as well as the clutter from our house.

To “spring clean” our thoughts and let go of the thinking that holds us back from risking change.

My New Year’s resolution is simple: to give and receive joy. That’s all.

I have no interest in buying things anymore to feel happy. I was given cash as a Christmas present so treated myself to items in a gift shop.

Otherwise I wouldn’t have doled out the money to buy something.

The goal as I see it is to have what you need and love what you have.

Oprah Winfrey gets at this with her quote in the Gratitude issue of Breathe magazine:

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.

If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

Giving and receiving joy doesn’t cost a dime. The feeling you and the other person gets is priceless.

I believe that gratitude is like honey that flows freely: We should pour on the gratitude for our fortune in life, for the people we love, and even for whatever struggle we have.

What we learn from going through a hard time we can teach others to instill hope for healing and recovery.

That is my ultimate goal: To bring Joy to the World at Christmas and throughout the year to everyone I meet.

No one should feel like they’re going it alone. No one should feel worthless in the eyes of others either.

Which is why I’ll mix metaphors and say too that Gratitude is like Miracle Glue holding our humanity in place.

My wish is to give others hope for healing the cracked parts and recovering joy.

To enjoy life should be what it’s all about in every season not just at the holidays.

Happy Everything!

Happy Birthday Spring Babies!

We are in the month dubbed Sprouting Grass Moon in the cycle of nature.

The idea of new growth and the greening of Earth sparks in me the hope that change is possible.

As I turn 55 I’m struck that self-care and more rightly so self-nurturing [as a form of compassion for yourself] is the way to go post-50 [or at any time in your life really].

It can be a challenge on a regular day to press the square button to pause the frenetic pace. I make the case for doing so no matter what.

In this time of crisis I haven’t been a saint in terms of self-care. Nor in terms of budgeting.

I thought: 55 is a big deal. It’s more of a milestone than 50 ever was. That’s because you’re halfway to 60.

For better or worse a person can face a new trial while living in menopause. This is the reason self-care becomes a necessity not a luxury at mid life.

Your life won’t wait for you. It’s moving on. Far better to move along with it.

Resisting change is futile in this era.

The motto as I’ve stated in here before [like a caterpillar to a butterfly] is:

Change or die.

Those are brave somewhat harsh words yet oh-so-true.

Who will you be tomorrow?

A more beautiful loving person when you take time out for yourself today.

Happy Birthday spring babies!

The Necessity of Self-Care

I want to write about the necessity of self-care as you get older.

Readers: if I gained weight I doubt I’d care at this point anymore.

Like so many women at mid life proclaim: “It’s either my face or my ass.” This is because:

In your fifties you might have a wrinkle-free face and gain a few pounds or have wrinkles and no extra poundage.

Research studies indicate that women who exercise feel better about their bodies even if they haven’t lost significant weight.

My secret is to lift weights twice a week as often as I can and to watch what I eat on most days. Now that the spring weather is here I often walk places instead of taking the subway. That’s how I get in “cardio”–cardiovascular exercise.

That’s the secret to hang a healthy body and a healthy mind: strength training. You feel better after you’ve exercised. There’s also some kind of idea that lifting weights firms the skin on your face too. I wouldn’t go so far as to think this–this seems incredulous to me.

My regimen is: At night I use L’Oreal Eye Makeup Remover and some kind of Neutrogena cleansing cloths for the rest of my face. After this I use Simple facial cleanser you can get in Rite Aid. Then I apply an old-school product from the Body Shop: the Vitamin E Night Cream.

In the morning I use Neutrogena Hydro-Boost moisturizer with SPF 15–the one that comes in the tube not the jar. I use an eye cream that costs about $15.

The reality is that you have to–at least I have to–wear moisturizer every day when you’re older. So I use a moisturizer with a sunscreen. I also notice that foundation goes on better if you’ve applied moisturizer first.

I’ll end here with this now:

No one will tell you–only I’ll tell you–that the future won’t always be totally rosy or always better and not ever challenging.

I learned the hard way from being the victim of an attack that your life can in some ways get harder at times not easier.

Which is the prime reason that self-care is so important now if you’re in your fifties.

Doing healthy things to make yourself feel better is a necessity not a luxury in recovery at mid life.