If you follow my weekly blog posts and receive my Always the Write Time emails, you’re privy to a fresh leap of faith my husband and I recently took. Rather than live with a retirement mentality, we prayerfully chose to retire “early”…[read more]
After the leap: beginning a new journey
May 10, 2022
always the write time always the write time, fairytales, leap of faith, mountains, retirement, season, Someday Leave a comment
It’s not too early: start attracting what you want in 2020
October 19, 2019
change, Happiness, Uncategorized, Writing 2020, ah-ha, attracting abundance, blame game, choices, Deepak Chopra, epiphany, excitement, mindfulness, New Year, season Leave a comment
Ever get struck with an epiphany that pumps your blood with excitement? The kind that makes you want to smack yourself on the one hand but high five the other? Coming off the tail end of one of these ah-ha moments, I shared it with a close friend and I think it’s worth repeating. For countless years, I’ve been playing a self-imposed “waiting game,” while subconsciously casting blame on other major players (aka main characters) in my life for the place—or season—in which I find myself today. Newsflash: first, there is no one to blame but myself. Second, just as I mentioned in my post, “How to make a happy life…,” the choices I’ve made thus far belong to me alone. And third, no blame necessary. I simply must remind myself that no experience is wasted if I learn something that prepares me for the next season. Because watch out New Year: this girl is on fire!
For tips on attracting what you want, visit https://chopra.com/articles/7-strategies-to-attract-everything-you-want-in-the-new-year.
Time is running out: make it matter
October 10, 2019
change, Uncategorized, Writing 2020, acceptance, changes, forgiveness, freedom, gain, go for it, harvest, loss, repetition, risk, season Leave a comment
There are three months
left in this decade.
In. This. Decade.
If you’re on social media, you might’ve seen the above words pop up in your feed. Now tack on the phrase: “Take that risk” or “I think you should go for it.” As humanity collectively stands on the cusp of a new season, I’m reminded of the patterns that accompany the inevitable changes, whether in nature or our own lives. A well-known Bible scripture begins: For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Once trapped in a cycle of repetitive behavior and thinking that prevented me from moving from past to present, over the last year I’ve experienced both loss and gain—culminating in acceptance, forgiveness and blessed freedom from bondage. I’m ready, now, to take that risk. To go for it. To make it matter before time runs out.
Are you ready?
Image courtesy of krishna arts at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Resigning ourselves to embrace each season
August 17, 2019
change, Happiness, Uncategorized adventure, Club 50, empty next, fake it, Henry David Thoreau, laugh, menopause, pre-retirement, season, sparkles Leave a comment
Live each season as it passes;
breathe the air, drink the drink,
taste the fruit, and resign yourself
to the influences of each.
~ Henry David Thoreau
Over the past few years, I’ve learned a little something about “Club 50.” It comes with a tiny downside called menopause. While I’ve been navigating this new season of empty nesting, adventure seeking and pre-retirement planning (the countdown is on!), the sneaky little “M” visitor swooped in under the radar and stole my life as I knew it—leaving behind a lack of ambition, fatigue, mood swings, hot flashes, excess weight, acne breakouts and an outcropping of coarse and curly sparkles. And that’s just the beginning! Thankfully, there’s hope. Or so I’ve been told. Because I still have a lot of living to do, embracing each moment even on the days when I must dig deep and fake it until I make it. Or the days I simply laugh my way through because it beats the alternative.
What season must you embrace?
Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
7 truths on and off the trail
June 27, 2017
Happiness danger, desert, goals, growth, hiking, love, mountains, obstacles, prayer, prepared, season, unexpected Leave a comment
As I often do while hiking, I pray. I meditate. I search my soul and ask what it longs for most. I plot my goals or a story outline. While trekking through the desert this weekend, it’s as if life made a little more sense to me on and off the trail with these truths: 1) Danger is always possible: prepare for the unexpected and proceed with caution. 2) To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun. 3) Remember where you came from: embrace your roots. 4) Keep your eyes open for love: it can show up in unlikely places. 5) Obstacles [aka mountains] are inevitable: it’s our choice whether to scale or avoid them. 6) If it’s meant to be, new growth finds a way. 7) When we think we’ve made it unscathed, another obstacle looms in our path: if it’s the same one, quit going around it and tackle it head on.
Which truth(s) can you relate to everyday life?
What’s ‘in’ this season: new outlook, new you
May 31, 2017
Happiness bad habits, change, hike, makeover, outlook, sanity, season, Someday, stepping stones, success, Yoga Leave a comment
This past weekend, I joined another hiker for a six-mile trek through new-to-me desert terrain. As the two of us navigated the dusty trails, we discovered common interests and beliefs despite the decade that separates our birthdays. Recently, my friend quit her job because it interfered with her hikes, her yoga. Her sanity. Although she resides in a different season of her life than me—where her plans lean toward retirement—the outlook she embraces is one I strive for daily. My friend lives and breathes the old adage that there are seven days in a week and Someday isn’t one of them; that we need to do what we can [enjoy] now, so we can do it for years to come. I knew I couldn’t move the mountains ahead of me, but I could kick aside the bad habits and negative chatter that clutters my path and replace them with stepping stones—small, manageable changes—toward success. Regardless of the season.
What does your makeover look like?