Making the Most of 60+

 Tomorrow I'm 64. WoooHooo! 

Actually, I feel 30. Except for the stiff back from sleeping on the couch for two days because my new foster dog has anxiety issues.  He's adorable, but is still getting used to us. 

I always look at each decade as an adventure. Something to meet with joy & awe.  This decade had me opening my own business and facing the challenges of running it during Covid. 

So for this new year of my 60 decade, what challenges shall we find? Adventures shall we plan? Or goals shall we set?  Okay, let's give it a go. What would be good things to do/see/experience for 64? 

•  Build my business 
• Publish another Book on Amazon (It's written but now comes the edit)
• Post some short stories on The Midnight Brain
• Rescue more dogs 
• Buy a home
• Get organized
• Lose 10... okay, 15 pounds
• Make friends
• Plant a garden
• Paint a mural 

So what's your plans for this year of your life? 

Is 60 the New 40?

 I remember my mom in her 60's. She had trouble walking, losing weight and was out on disability. I think if she had access to the internet like we have now she would have been healthier. 

Today if we have a pain in our hip we can wade thought tons of information and read about what helped others and maybe take this info to our doctors or try some exercises or stretches to ease the pain. My mom had no help other than one doctor who evidently couldn't help her. 

I remember reading my mother's women's magazine and their exercise suggestion? It was pictures of a woman carrying a small pile of folded towels up the stairs. No hard cardio, no suggestion on weight lifting or yoga. If that was mom's only input of how to maintain weight, it was no help at all. 

So today we have so much information at our finger tips we can be a healthier 60.  Not that I'm saying listen to all the info out there, but read, double check, know your source, etc. 

I've had a few health problems along the way. One day my daughter was watching Medical Mysteries. In it a woman had problems with tiredness, IBS, tingling and a few other things. We're watching and the woman lists her symptoms I say, "I have that." and "I have that, and I have that, too." My daughter turns to me and says, "Whatever that woman has, you should get checked for!"   The woman had a B12 deficiency.  Later I found out that I have it too and that information changed everything! 

No matter what your symptoms, don't stop searching for an answer. Just be careful who you're listening to. Know their credentials, where they got their facts from and check and double check. We have what our parents didn't. We have access to a world of answers. 

So with all this help to keep us going...isn't 60 the new 40? 

Scary side of Business in Covid-land

Starting a business at age 60 is risky but what the heck! Let's go for it....
No joke, it was a struggle. Slow slow start, working to bring people in and have happy customers at our little art studio. Very slow take off, barely to cruise... and then...

COVID-19 smacks us right between the eyes. Closed down for 2 full months. No money in and still money goes out to maintain our space. Our savings is draining away. We are constantly asking if we should throw in the towel or keep fighting. There are no answers. Covid-land doesn't let us see through to the other side.  It's not like a hurricane where you take the hit, clean it up and move on. Some say this could last another year. Can we?

So, how to keep from spiraling down into a deep funk? I concentrate on the things I can control.
We're open again but business is super slow. We are not making our rent. We applied for a grant and got it. Okay, this month we're paying rent. Worry about next month then. I often go from freaking out, to crying, to anger. When I walk the dog I talk to myself. It helps me work through the myriad of feelings coursing through me every day. Then I recite a mantra of wishes but I speak as if they're all ready here. I learned that from the Law of Attraction. It's part of my plan to retain my sanity during crazyland.

In the mean time we're trying to come up with ways our customers can get the same great experience we offer in our art studio at home. Don't want to risk going out? Let me see what I can do for you. (and make $$ to pay the bills)

It's a daily struggle. When I'm ready to splash down into a puddle of misery I stop and think, "What else is out there? What else can I do to bring $$ in?"

Luckily I know a great group of business owners who brainstorm together. Are all our ideas great? No, but some have possibilities. Success will come. I will it to happen.  We all know, Success comes but it has to find you working.

I think of that fish, Dori; Keep on Swimming, Keep on Swimming....

New Life, New Business, New Adventures

I know life is nothing without goals but I think as we grow older we stop setting those goals. Where once we had a goal to get a new job, hit the gym regularly, go back to school (my dream) or publish a book (3 to date & a novella -find them on Amazon) or maybe even leave everything you know behind and start a new life.

That's what we did at age 60.

Crazy?

Very. But determined. Our new business seems to be slowly moving along and dare I say - picking up a bit. We need to rethink our marketing. Which I think is something you constantly have to keep re-doing. Marketing is something that constantly changes. It's fun and exhausting.

Still I couldn't imagine being retired and sitting around doing nothing all day. I think that would make me even more crazy than the starting-a-new-business thing. I don't golf and can't imagine just hanging out all day.  Maybe 60 really is the new 40? Like maybe 10 or 15 years from now I'd be more open to just retiring, but now? I'm having fun building something that is ours.

I think sometimes the way to approach a new goal is just one step ahead of the other. Keep moving and don't waste time with worry. That's not productive. Instead I look to the fun part of the job. The art, the people and the day to day activities.

Set that goal, have some fun, and know that as long as you're moving forward you're going in the right direction.

Surviving the Empty Nest

I'll be 62 in a few weeks. Truthfully, I don't feel any different than I did at 40 only, in a way, I have less responsibility.  Oh yeah, I'm still working, building my own business that I started at age 60, but the kids, my life's work up until they went off on their own are now building their own lives.
Empty nesting was hard on me. I had a sense of being lost, wanting to go back but of course there's no going back. Kids grow up and move out. It's pretty much a fact of life. I found myself falling back into the memories of things we did together, places we went, mountains I watched them climb, success and growth. I was drowning in memories.
They are off on their own, successful in their own right. Building their own lives, forging a path. I'm so proud of who they have become.

Now what?
Well, the hubby and I sold the house, moved 900 miles to be closer to the kids and started our own business.
Yikes!
We did that?
It's scary and fun and hard work. But so far it's work I'm loving. So I still have responsibility but it's different. No little lives depend on me, I don't have to wake anyone up in the morning but me. Make dinner or don't. It's just the hubby and I so we take turns or we go out.
I think after going through the empty nest portion of life I've emerged on the other side. My brother once told me empty next is like being 21 again but this time you have money. He's kind of right. Except I took all my money and put it in a business. :)

Truthfully, I think retirement at this point would bore me. The brain has to stay active to continue to grow. Chasing a golf ball around the green just isn't for me. Neither is sitting on the couch. If I had retired like that I'd probably be pacing the room look for the escape hatch.
Bottom line? To survive the empty next set goals. Don't just curl up and think about retirement.
THINK!

Is there something you always wanted to try? Something you always wanted to be? Set a goal. Make it big or small or make many and knock them out one at a time. Either way, don't forget that life is about moving forward.
So move toward a goal no matter how big or small.
It's out there. Go for it. Go for 60! It's gonna be a beautiful decade!

Suddenly Sixty

Funny, I don't feel sixty.
Except at work where I'm surrounded by coworkers the same ages as my kids. Yeeek!  The weird thing is, sometimes they talk to me as a coworker, sometimes as a mom. Yes, they want their cuts looked at and advice for how to handle that snarky so called friend, then they talk business with me. It's a very strange land I live in now.
Suddenly Sixty.

My kids moved 900 miles away and it broke my heart. I'm happy that they moved to a less expensive state and are doing great in their jobs, but they're 900 miles away. :(
Last week my dog went to Heaven. Another heartbreak. I cry every day now. I look to her spot on the couch and where she naps under the table as if I expect to see her. It was sudden. Wednesday fine, Thursday sick and rushed to the dog hospital, Friday gone. I can't stop crying.
I washed her beds and blankets intending to donate them to a rescue. They're still in my car. I can't let them go yet.


On top of all this, work sucks. Changes are being made and it's not what I signed up for. I told them I didn't want to travel. I never had a job where I had to travel and I don't like driving. Done.

List the house, move to Florida. Wish me luck.
Listing a house is like an opening night 24/7. Always be ready for the house to be "on" and ready to show. Its exhausting. Couple that with the fact we had to de-personalize the house, it doesn't even feel like our home anymore. None of my art is around the house, I don't have a workshop anymore (now it's a bedroom.) Boring beige bland house.

And I'm itching to paint something. Anything. Before I used to paint all the time. Now all my stuff is put away. Hidden in a box in storage. Blah.

I can't wait to move! Get me into my own home again with an art studio and family photos on the wall.


Sell this house and bring me to my new home in Florida! I will it to happen soon!  Please send positive vibes this way! Sell the house! Sell the house! Sell the house!

Tibetan Five - Exercise?

I first heard of the Tibetan Five when I saw it on Hugh Howey's blog.  I tried it once or twice and then forgot about it.

I came across it again and again and thought, maybe this is a sign from the universe? Maybe I'll give this a shot. Everyday for a month? Can't hurt and maybe I'll feel better. If the arthritis in my shoulder and neck calms down it would be worth it. I had a car accident a few years ago and the injuries still flare on occasion.

You're supposed to do 21 of each exercise, but I started with 10. Whew! Some were easy, some were not. The ones on Hugh Howey's blog were very instructive, but I also needed to modify some stuff so I read more sites. This one's not bad and there's always the poster---->

The table and scoop bothered my wrist a little but that cleared up as soon as I moved to the next one. You can see it done to perfection on Hugh's blog, but mine were ...um... sloppier? Shakier?

I'm working on it. One month...I can do this!

I'm on day 3 now and skipped the workout today because I had to be down in AC before breakfast and it was an exhausting day.

My resolution? do it everyday for a month and see how I feel on New Years Day?
So what's your favorite exercise? Do you do it every day? How are the results?

(Insert plug for Hugh Howey's books here.)
Thank you, Hugh, for teaching me the Tibetian Five!

Christmas Shopping from.... You Guessed it! The Couch

It's not that I don't like shopping, I just hate crowds! All that pushing, shoving, grabbing and long lines...YUK!

Now we have the wonderful world of the Internet. Where a few clicks of the keyboard can complete our shopping in one afternoon.
Our only draw back is not actually seeing the stuff so sometime's sizes can be off. For that reason, I usually only do this with local stores that would be easy to return to, or the better known places like Bass Pro Shops, Kohls, Target, etc. Best part? Most will ship direct to the recipient.

So yesterday I think I'm so slick and do an order at Kohls and forget to change the shipping address before I hit the final payment button. I immediately call Kohls to try and get them to redirect the shipment. They say they can't do it.

Hmmm, the order barely left my keyboard and there's no way to put a new shipping address on it? Don't these people have computers? I've done this on Amazon without a problem so I was kinda shocked when Kohls couldn't catch an order that was five minutes old.

Oh well, to the post office I'll have to go. Another fun-fun holiday place. Maybe I'll wear an elf costume and pass out candy canes.
Happy December!

Blame it on the Couch

It's so easy to blame all the creaks and pain on getting old, but in examining my own pains I'm thinking the couch is more to blame.

Here on my big brown couch I sip coffee, write blogs and stories while the TV drones on in the background. It's a comfy place with two dogs curled up next to me and a wood stove over in the corner. (Getting chilly here in the northeast so we're ready to fire that sucker up!) Is there any better place than this big comfy couch?

Wait...is it getting harder to get up off this big comfy couch? Did my knee just creak? Back a little stiff? eh? Must be getting old, right? Or maybe it's the "time" on the couch and lack of time on the treadmill?

I keep making that pledge to do the treadmill in the morning or hit that weight bench I needed to buy, but then i come to the couch for just a few minutes....

Well, you know the rest.

Found this awesomely silly deck of
inspiration cards on Amazon. 

I go on Pinterest and find all the exercise pins for inspiration. It's so inspiring I stay on Pinterest until it's time to get ready for work and never actually get to that exercise thing.

What inspires you to get off the couch? Where do you find that mojo motivation?

Exercising at 50 or 60?

Does exercise get scarier when we get older? Maybe, to some.
Then I see an older man running past me as I walk the neighborhood. He looks great, runs at a good pace, and, I imagine, has no fear of pushing his body.

The thought of working up to a run kind of scares me since I haven't run since I was in my 20's.

There's a program called Couch to 5K that combines walking and running/jogging to get a person ready to run a full 5K. Which I think is 2 or 3 miles? Yesterday I walked 2 miles through, up and around my neighborhood. Stupid me, I did it at 1 o'clock in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day. I really can't take the heat when I'm sitting still so by the time I got home I was kind of dizzy. But I did it! (There's a phone ap called Map My Walk that will track it for you.)

Today calls for rain so unless there's a break in the rain, I might just hit the weights today. I was reading Body for Life by Bill Phillips and one of the success stories was an older woman, 60+, who did the program. They showed her standing there in a bikini with an amazingly buff body. Made me think it was possible. A quick internet search found Bonnie Ave, champion body builder at age 60! So I believe there is hope.
Not sure if I'm ever going Couch to 5K but I am going to get off this couch.
Anyone else start an exercise program after 50? What's your story?
Come on! I need some inspiration!

What Happened Here?

Sooner or later almost everyone wakes up and thinks, "What the hell happened?"
While out partying, goofing around, raising kids, having a job...Sixty is creeping up and springs upon you with the stealth of a viper searching for prey.

Hello Sixty! I see you creeping around the corner. I'm 58, soon to be 59 in August. Then Sixty will be here.

I view this as a right of passage. I've always welcomed each new decade of my life with enthusiasm. Like a new vision of hope, filled with wondrous experiences. In some ways, the changes are evident.

• Body changes 
• Style choices
• The way people view you 

The changes in your body creep up slowly. Had a little trouble with your back? Had to hold onto something to stand back up? Need a hoist off he couch? 

At almost 60 I look at my high heels and think, why bother? Who the heck am I squeezing my feet into those most uncomfortable shoes for? Certainly not me! Choose the flats! 

When you work with a fairly young crowd, my immediate supervisor could be my son, you learn they can see you as a mother figure. Or someone who has no computer experience. The latter can be a problem in today's business world. 

So as i gear up for sixty I'd like to know what else is on the horizon? What do you see happening from 50 to 60 and beyond?