Why now, right at this moment?

So, why start a blog now? First, I am 60 years old (AUG 3, 1961) and feel as good today, I felt at 40. Second, after 37 years in a career, I was called in and told my job was being eliminated. Yes, 37 years of service and walked out the door just like that. No, I was not in shock, nor was I devastated. I would say a little mad, maybe upset, but strangely very calm. I have yet cried. Now, I will say that I knew I had to get my head together and think of my future. On my way home, after calling my husband, and kids, I decided not to have a glass of wine (a little unusual) for the next few days. Instead, I needed to have a clear head and sort out my next phase. The first week I was fortunate that we had lots of damage from a hailstorm, so I was able to spend a couple of days cleaning up the yard. Not fortunate to have so much damage but something to work on and clear my thoughts. I took some time to visit with friends and family, travel a little, and sleep in! Luckily, I had been working on myself for happiness and knew that my job was not the place of joy. I had passion for the work I was doing but I was not growing or learning. During these last couple of years, I came up with LCL. I used this acronym for what I wanted to work on and improve with age. A LEAN mind (thoughts create our feelings, so work on your thoughts), LEAN body (exercise and eat reasonably well), Connections (work on being a better listener and be better at caring for those that are important to me and of course always try to treat others as I would like to be treated…. thanks mom) and LEARN (it is never ever too late to learn or change). I will embarrassingly admit, I had written these same goals in a journal over 15 years ago! I found an old journal from 2006 and in it I wrote that I wanted to be more consistent in exercise, gardening, being a better listener, and working on my relationships, in other words CONNECTIONS. At least I realize that I have stayed consistent on what was important to me. I wish I would have not taken so long to get into what I call my good zone…keeping things in balance on my LCL. If there is one thing, I can share with you today is that having a few hobbies and feeling good about your personal health can me mind blowing. I have wasted countless hours of stress over my weight, flabby thighs (I still have the flabby thighs and cellulite LOL), and eating better. Finally, I did something about. I made a commitment to run on my treadmill for 30 minutes a day. I have kept this goal and even added a few weights. Don’t get too excited. They are small weights and not many repetitions. But, I am moving each and every day! If you want to get better with age, then follow me. I want to share with you some tools that I have found that are fun and have put me on my path towards MY own perfection 😊. Yes, just like that bottle of Cabernet lol. We are all going to have the good days, the really good days, and then those days…not so good. Let’s just get better at handling those no so good days and get them far a few between. The first thing that I think is extremely important for all of us women is controlling our thoughts. These thoughts produce a feeling and this feeling produces an action which ends in some type of results. The homework (lol since I am taking classes this fall), is to watch your thoughts this week. Be aware of your thoughts. Remember, they are just thoughts. They may be accurate and true BUT probably not. Let me give you an example of how this works. You walk out to get the mail. Your neighbor ignores you while driving by. You wave and she just looks at you. As most of us would do, I PROMISE you, we would think about all these ridiculous thoughts, she is mad, she is upset I cancelled on her bunko game, she is upset that I did not have any fresh garlic for her to borrow. See, what I am talking about? When, in truth, your neighbor just found out that her son was failing in math and might not graduate and was very deeply in her own thoughts and did not register you standing there. Do you realize how often we do this? And, we being upset, can lead to the pantry for chips and salsa (action) to make us feel better, TEMPORARILY! We will then beat are self up for eating all the chips (result). To let our thoughts go crazy we waste so much time and energy. We create anxiety for ourselves for (most often) no apparent reason. Ask yourself, are these the facts? Are these thoughts true? Are these thoughts undoubtedly the truth? Have fun making fun of yourself because we all do it. I catch myself daily with my crazy thoughts! Remember, those thoughts can drive us to negative feelings and there was not truth to any of them! Do your homework! Watch your negative THOUGHTS and ask yourself if they are absolutely the truth (not your opinion). If there is no proof that these thoughts are the facts, then drop it and move on to something better! Have you ever been embarrassed over something that you had misunderstood and had been furious over? Now, I also told you that we are never ever to old to learn so I am leaving you with something that you might already know but was fascinating for me.

Have a beautiful weekend!

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The Monarch Butterfly Migration

Did you know that the Monarch butterfly migrates from Mexico and sometimes all the way to Canada! I read in one of my garden books that late August is when they are usually pass-through Texas while heading back to Mexico. My son had bought us a board game, Mariposa, which is Spanish for butterfly. The game board is how they migrate, and I was so fascinated how far they travel. So, be on the lookout for these most beautiful creatures on their way back down from summer vacation and head back to Mexico and Central America. They are fun to watch. They seem to dance around and and play with the flowers! (it is never ever too late to learn or change). Let me know if you see any Mariposas :)

Here is a link if you want to read more about them.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/monarch-butterfly