Next week I turn 52. I’m proud to tell people my age now. It doesn’t matter anymore because the older I get, the less I know, the easier it is to be me and the more curious I am about who I am becoming. Life is an evolution ~ and when you get up ‘here’ I find it’s about disentagling belief systems and stepping out with greater courage each and every day. So, next week, I’ll post about what I discovered over the last few months but thought I’d amuse myself by re-reading this post from two years ago because I am certainly a different person now!!~~~ KEEP SMILING, Laura
Turning 50 is Powerful and filled with inner wisdom for Women! I was excited and have been for awhile for this birthday! I’m not one to put too much credence into birthdays but this one ~ very different.
Yes, they are a nice reason to gather together to have fun but typically, to me, it’s just another bday on the calendar. 18 was good…21 was an eye-opener….30 meant not much to me….39 I felt OLD. But, 50? Well, I just feel downright GREAT! I found things to and planned other things to celebrate it ~ a dinner with a friend I had not seen in over 30 years, a wonderful evening with my man-friend, time with my family, seeing old mentors of mine, lunch with a dear friend and an evening of music with my favorite performer. If I had not done so, I probably would have been disappointed.
But knowing what you want is a powerful thing. It comes from deep within and allows you to step forward with action and into success. Doing what you want, with understanding of your inner wisdom and a compassionate heart, creates a vision of the world that is filled with Joy & Abundance. That’s what I’ve learned in the past 5 decades. I’ve learned what I want and how to move forward to reach it while respecting and observing the hearts of others.
It comes down to this: 5 things I’ve learned in the last 5 decades of life.
1) Family First ~ your family will always be there for you if you put them first. At the end of the day, it is these people that will gather around you to lift you up and, if you are fortunate, to compassionately show you ways to be a better person. They are the one’s who will ultimately be by your side through thick and thin. It is because of this that you must always try to keep them first and foremost in your thoughts before taking action.
2) Follow your Inner Wisdom ~ you can read, learn, and listen to thers about the path you want to take and the choice you want to make. But, at the end of the day, it is your own inner GPS that will be your best guide to making the choices that bring you the most happiness in the long run.
3) Find Time for Healthy Living~ our spirits go on forever, if we are lucky our minds will be astute to the end of this life but everyone’s body ages. There is no cure for that. It is the only home that we will be given and it should run as optimally as possible at all times and that means taking care of it.
4) Fouls happen~ fouls against us and fouls we make and just the simple fouls of life. But, understanding mis-takes and making up for them and forgiving those that have fouled against us, and accepting those fouls we can never really understand will serve us well at the end of the day. Our hearts will be lighter and we will be better able to navigate forward into the Joy that we all so deserve.
5) Finish each day ~ with gratitude and love –for your family and self. Before putting your head to the pillow, each night, we should look to what we are grateful for and tell the people who we love and who love us that we love them ~ and that includes telling yourself.
If you are receiving this e-newsletter, you have been in my life in one shape or another. A family member, a friend, a client or aquaintenace or perhaps someone who is interested in what I do and offer but don’t know yet. Know that, whoever you are, I am most grateful for being in your life and having you in mine.
You may know that the following quote was on the wall of my college dorm room. And, since then, I have done much work to achieve this. Work that will continue over the next decades, no doubt. I can only hope that your own Listening has allowed you the same Joy & happiness that I have had over the last 50 years.
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Hey we are the same age, I turn 52 in December. I absolutely love this article. And I’m proud Im in my 50’s! Looking forward to 60!!!!
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 16th, 2014 at 3:26 pm
Go Lorraine Go!
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Comment by Lorraine Duncan — September 15, 2014 @ 3:17 pm
This is a really inspiring post about age. I can think of a lot of women who would love to hear your musings about age. I’ll have to share it. =)
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 16th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Thanks Frances!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
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Comment by Frances — September 15, 2014 @ 8:01 pm
turning 60 is even better Laura.
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 16th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Now THAT Louise makes me excited!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
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Comment by Louise Behiel — September 15, 2014 @ 10:39 pm
Lovely reminders Laura, I especially love knowing what you want is about inner wisdom. I also have a birthday next week and will reflect with deep love and gratitude on all the joy, wisdom and insights I have been blessed to experience in my almost 5 decades on this earth! Thank you!
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 16th, 2014 at 3:26 pm
Love that we share a bday week together, Kelley!
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Comment by Kelley Grimes — September 16, 2014 @ 1:33 pm
This post is really all about Values – Getting clarity around your values is SO important to living your life on purpose and with passion! Thanks Laura and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 17th, 2014 at 12:08 pm
Cena!!! Thank you so much ~ can’t wait for the happy happy song 😉
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Comment by Cena Block from @Sanespaces.com — September 17, 2014 @ 10:51 am
Hi Laura,
I absolutely loved turning 50. I’ll be 51 in November. It’s liberating to no longer feel the need for approval or even care about what others think of me. No more angst! Of course this didn’t happen just because I turned 50 but it came from practicing a whole new way of thinking when I turned 40. I’ve had 10 years of experience at saying no, setting and enforcing my boundaries, shedding nice in return for kind, and living life on my terms 🙂
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 17th, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Way to go Peggy!!! It surely is a decade of growth for many that 40’s to the 50’s and oh I can’t wait for both of us over the next decade!!! 🙂
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Comment by Peggy Nolan — September 17, 2014 @ 11:42 am
Your post made me smile! We fifty something ladies are just awesome….aren’t we?
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 17th, 2014 at 1:42 pm
Yes, Beverly, we most surely are!!!!
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Comment by Beverly Jones-Durr — September 17, 2014 @ 12:50 pm
HOT DAMN! There are so many blessings attached to growing older, I wish more women would choose focus on the incredible gifts they receive and how good they feel in their own skin as they age rather than the number. I for one am hitting 50 in a couple of years and I plan to ROCK MY CRONE-HOOD! Thank you Laura for this inspiring and helpful perspective!
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 17th, 2014 at 1:44 pm
So many blessings!!!!! I planned an entire MONTH of celebrations when I did and am so very glad ~ your’s is going to have fireworks off of Long Island that I can see all the way to the shores of Rhode Island no doubt!!!!
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Comment by Lisa Marie Rosati — September 17, 2014 @ 12:55 pm
Happy birthday! Turning fifty felt an awful lot like moving from Kansas to Oz.
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 20th, 2014 at 7:54 pm
Andrea~~~ Thank you!!=
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Comment by Andrea — September 17, 2014 @ 3:26 pm
LOVE this, Laura! You are casting a beautiful, positive light on the path for me as I approach my 45th birthday on October 5th!
I love what the acclaimed actress Elaine Stritch said about growing older. She was acting in starring roles into her late 80’s. She said, “I never say ‘getting old,’ because there’s a finality to that. I’m just getting older and so are you, every day. So I’m still one of the mob.”
Here’s to being one of the visionary, daring, kick-ass mob!
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 20th, 2014 at 7:54 pm
Go Stacey Go!!!1
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Comment by Stacey — September 17, 2014 @ 5:05 pm
I thought turning 50 was the best…I am now 59 and the transformational feminine power rocks…60’s here I come with power, grace, femininity and elegance!
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 20th, 2014 at 7:55 pm
Wendy, if your 50’s are a prelude to the opening act, I can’t wait to see your’s!!!
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Comment by Wendy Van de Poll — September 17, 2014 @ 5:32 pm
Such wisdom – “Life is an evolution” and pause to “Listen” and I might add be inspired as one of my own lessons. So love the 5 lessons in 5 decades with 4 & 5 may favorites. Yes fouls happen and by finishing the day as you suggest no matter the foul that pause allows one to see and hear the blessings via inner wisdom is amazing. Thanks for sharing this again.
May I be the first to wish you an early Happy Birthday – enjoy! Louise’s note that 60 is better is indeed exciting!!!!!!
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 20th, 2014 at 7:56 pm
It is isn’t it, cindy?! Thank you!1
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Comment by Cindy — September 19, 2014 @ 6:13 am
Wow….great article about acquiring wisdom as you grow older. I have passed your calendar age and can resonate with “the older I get, the less I know.” It is so true….I remember being in my 20s and thinking I knew it all. Now, I know that it was a myth and arrogant to boot. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and feelings.
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Laura Clark Reply:
September 20th, 2014 at 7:56 pm
You’re welcome, Lilia….funny how such wisdom comes from acquiring less right 😉
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Comment by Lilia Lee — September 19, 2014 @ 10:51 am