Gifts and Gratitude

Before sitting down to write this week, I’d been catching up on my journal entry for today. I wrote about feeling incredibly blessed, a bit more than usual this week with gifted coaching sessions, a visit from one of my besties over the weekend, and an invitation from my personal trainer, Jenn, to contribute to a promotional video for her new fitness program specially designed for those of us in midlife and beyond.

As a woman in midlife, I look back and reflect upon how confused, stuck and overwhelmed I felt about weight loss, food and my body. I’ve lived through decades of changing and conflicting information about dieting, fitness and the best way to lose weight. I can tell you it was exhausting - and lonely.

I’ve come to love thinking about new projects as experiments in which I can just give it a try without worrying whether the outcome is good or bad - it allows me to separate myself from the judgement, pesky fears, the perfectionistic tendencies I’ve wrangled with, including all or nothing thinking.

Last week I began preparing for a week of maintenance….

Discover how the story of the tortoise and the hare reflects one woman’s slow and steady weight loss journey in midlife while managing her health and thyroid (Hashimoto’s), learning to age with intention, shifting mindsets, practicing new habits, and focusing on non-scale victories.

If you’ve ever been told you’re a Late Bloomer, you’re not alone. For women in midlife and beyond, the term “Late Bloomer” isn’t a sign of failure - it’s a powerful reminder that personal growth, creativity, and purpose don’t have an expiration date. In this reflective post, I explore what it means to embrace Late Blooming as a strength as we navigate aging with wisdom, purpose, clarity and choice.

Friends.  Where would we be without them? 

I can’t imagine my life without the women who are my core friends - my besties, my people.  They’re the ones who’ve hung in there with me; who’ve been there through thick and thin; who have seen me at my best and in my worst moments and decided I was worth sticking with.

I’ve been coaching/counselling since my late twenties and now, as a woman in midlife, I continue to feel deeply grateful for every client who invites me into their lives.  

It’s truly a privilege to witness the unburdening - to watch subtle shifts and profound changes as we pull one thread after another, safely, carefully, inviting the client to weave a tapestry that reflects who they are and who they’re becoming, a masterpiece only they could create.  

My search for that deep inner wisdom and the Wiser Woman within has been going on since I can remember and of course has evolved over time. 

The stories I write about in this post are the ones that stand out as I’ve reflected on my quest to find, define and connect with Spirit. It all began when I was a child. 

On my 50th birthday I woke up to the thought that I was more than halfway through my life and that I’d better make the most of what was left, even though I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. 

I imagined standing on my timeline facing my past, now a middle-aged woman, witnessing a long line of all the people and events unfolding from the day I was born to that moment.

I’m sitting quietly this morning sipping my first cup of coffee noticing a feeling of unrest or longing or anticipation, maybe frustration - or perhaps a mix of all of them.

I’m grateful for these moments and this time in life. As a woman in midlife I’ve become someone who can allow, and sit with, these feelings. Past versions of me wouldn’t have tolerated the discomfort - I’d have bypassed them by getting up and carrying on with my day.

These moments in midlife remind me to listen to my inner longings….

Now fully engaged in midlife, forgiveness is something that feels a little easier than it used to, although to be honest I am still resistant to the word.  I’ve grappled with this idea – of forgiving myself and others.  

I spent time at my grandson’s music class yesterday, a gift to me as a woman in midlife, a grandma who treasures these moments not having had grandmothers in her life to attend classes, concerts or games.

And, as I write this I realize some of you reading my post may not be a grandmother – no worries, there’s more to this story, a message for all of us whether in midlife or not to take away.  It just happens that I learned the lesson I’m about to share with again through my grandson and his music class.

You’d think I’d have so many more things figured out now that I’m a woman well into mid-life, especially regarding grief and loss, wouldn’t you? 

Whenever I’ve lost hope, especially during midlife transitions, life has felt stark, depressing, and fearful.  I’m grateful that it has only happened a handful of times throughout my lifetime. 

For the most part, I’ve more often than not felt the opposite – hopeful, a glass half-full kind of person, even when navigating midlife change, and even when the outcomes weren’t what I’d hoped they’d be. 

I’ve had many comments and eye rolls from my family about Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) or Tapping when I share how powerful a tool it is for calming our bodies and minds. As I write this, I can hear them, a note of sarcasm embedded in their voices - “yah, Ok Mom”, “no one wants to tap with you”, or “you’re the only one who thinks its a good idea!”

As I was exploring what to write about this week, I came across Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s blog post “Why I Write - and Why You Should Too”. She’s a successful writer and a popular one - 100,000 people have had eyes on her posts, something she never expected to happen when she began writing once a week.

The question she asked herself after reaching this milestone was “would I keep on writing if no one ever read my words?”.

As I’ve taken on this new mindset of “it’s an experiment”, I wondered what it would be like to draw. I’ve never been good at art, and until recently never even considered trying my hand at drawing.

But the Universe has a way of pulling one in and pointing out new directions when we least expect it.

What if you could approach your life through the lens of “it’s an experiment”?