Legacy detour…Aging Gracefully…(and a little giveaway!)

 Happy Wednesday Peeps! Tuesday’s winners of “A Giveaway A Day” are: Gitz, Jenn, and Susan D! Please email me at rrg723@yahoo.com with your info. and I’ll send a little anklet your way! Thank you for comment!

Hang on to the end of the post for Today’s Give Away!!

And now…a new series starting…

 I’ve been writing a series on Living My Legacy. If you’ve been dropping by you know I beleive that each of us is living, today, the legacy that we will one day leave. Living that legacy with purpose and intention is a central focus for me. It all started for me with “A Trip To The Grocery Store That Changed My Life”.

  I’m taking a bit of a detour before wrapping it up. I  wanted to start a little aside on  Aging.  As a forty-seven year old woman aging has become a part of living my legacy. And I’m shocked every day I tell you,  by this process over which I have very little control.  Aging gracefully is not, I’ve discovered, for sissies!

Here’s the thing, I wish someone had mentioned a few of the ins and outs of aging to me while I was still in my twenties or thirties! Today, if you’re in that age range, you may be mildly interested in this series. If you’re in your forties, fifties, sixties seventies or eighties then Sisters let’s talk!

Here are a few things I want to talk about…

Aging and Choices. I believe some of the ways we age can be determined by our choices. A wise woman once told me the decisions you make in your twenties show up on your face in your thirties. I believe that. I’m not just talking about the way we care for our skin or our nutrition. Have you ever seen an older man or woman who wears a scowl? Do the terms Grumpy old man or mean old lady come to mind? It’s inner beauty that shows through as we age and the foundation for inner beauty is being laid in those younger years.

Aging and our bodies. One of the aspects of aging that almost every day gives me a shock ,is the way aging is effecting my body.  I want to explore that a little, though not much, so as not to frighten anyone! And honestly my aging body is not my most favorite subject! Still I wish someone had mentioned a few things to me along the way and with that in mind, sometime soon I’m going to do a hit and run on this one.

Aging and Relationships. Getting older effects relationships. This is a big one, I’m in the empty nest stage right now and it’s way better and way worse than I ever dreamed! I want to chat about some things I wish I’d done earlier on and a few things I did that may have helped me with the transition into our empty nest stage. Empty nesters face changes with their relationship to their children, their spouses, their parents, even their friends who may still have little ones at home. It’s a lot of change really and if you’re slow to change like I am it can be a bit uncomfortable.

Aging and Disappointments. As you get older one thing doesn’t change. Disappointments. Disappointments still come. Broken dreams. Failures. But do you want to know the difference? When I was young at least half of my coping skills came from putting my trust in the future. “The dream didn’t happen this time, but maybe next time”…  “I may have failed today but I can try again in a few years”… “I don’t look my best now, but I’ve got time to work on it”…”We can’t afford (big house, new car, beach house, to travel…)now, but maybe in a few years things will fall into place”…Do you know what happens when you hit your forties? Realization slowly seeps in. You  begin to realize that all your dreams won’t come true on this side of eternity.  And although that may seem obvious, it’s not. When time is no longer a crutch, coping skill may be challenged to the nth degree.  Again, this may be the starting point for a midlife crisis or with profound disappointment that leads to cynicism and bitterness later on.

I have lots going on in my head. It’s not all serious because you really have to just laugh about it. There’s only one alternative to aging…I am going to have some great guests posts too. I’m working on getting some insight from someone in their fifties, sixties, and seventies! This really is going to be fun.  We’ll start in ernest next week~

Aging gracefully is part of the legacy I’m living and will one day leave. And though it’s not my favorite thing to chat about, it’s inevitable so let’s see if we can encourage one another to do it with grace and purpose.

Now to today’s give away! It’s a cute little coupon notepad! I have one and I love it! I’m not a “real” coupon clipper but I do regularly clip coupons from  Michael’s, Joann’s, Macy’s, Bath and Body Works…and I tuck them into this little notebook which lives in my purse, this way I always have my go-to coupons! The notepad is great for making lists when I’m headed out to run errands! I think you’ll really like this~You know how giddy I get when you leave a comment?

All you have to to to be entered in today’s give away is leave me an adorable little comment!

~TTFN Sweet Peeps~sending love and prayers your way~

Tagged as: aging gracefully, giveaway, legacy