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WHAT ARE YOU CULTIVATING IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE?

A comfort zone can be a beautiful place where peace, contentment, satisfaction and gratitude grow in abundance.

COMFORT ZONES AND RISK

There's a well known saying that goes:
A comfort zone is a beautiful place, 
but nothing ever grows there
All the super busy, ambitious go-getters immediately nod their heads because it's a fact that you have to step out of your comfort zone if you want to take a leap forward into the unknown or into something bigger and riskier than you usually experience.

But......
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HOW I BRIGHTENED MY SMILE WITHOUT BREAKING THE BUDGET

How to get a brighter, whiter smile without spending a fortune or having to DIY at home. You don't have to spend a fortune to have a great smile.

BRIGHTENING A DULL SMILE

Have you noticed that your teeth have gotten duller and dingier as you've gotten older? I've certainly found that mine have been getting darker and less attractive since I hit Midlife and I wasn't sure whether I was just being vain or whether I wanted to get serious and do something about it. I used to be a Dental Therapist/Hygienist in my younger days, and I also worked for an orthodontist for many years. Teeth are something that I'm very aware of - and I also know how much it can cost to get a fabulous smile.....A LOT!!
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AN UNBUSY RETIREMENT IS FINE - IT'S NOT A COMPETITION

Retirement isn't a contest to see who's the busiest or whose bucket list is the longest. It's okay to be unbusy and relaxed.

BEING - NOT DOING

One of the biggest payoffs for me when I decided to retire early instead of returning to work, was the chance to wind back on my commitments and to spend less time "doing" and more time "being". I loved the idea of being un-busy and avoiding being over committed and stressed all the time. The serenity I have in my life these days has been hard won and I wouldn't swap it for the world. But......
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WHOLEHEARTED LIVING - CULTIVATING NEW ADVENTURES

Meet the Midlife woman who walked 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail during the pandemic.

INTRO

Today I have the next guest in my series on Cultivating Wholehearted Living - thriving in the second half of life. My guest goes by the unusual name of Person Irresponsible, her “trail name” - nicknames like this are often used by the thru-hiking community. This amazing woman decided to walk 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail in 2020 during the pandemic!

You’d think she was fit, fabulous and nowhere near forty. In fact, she tells me that she was hurtling towards fifty, fat, and in her fourth year of sobriety - hence her anonymity*. She has since written a book “Everything You Ever Taught Me” where she recounts not only the hardship of living in the American wilderness, but also her recovery from alcoholism. I've included her Amazon links at the end of the post, but for now I'd like you to meet Person Irresponsible....
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LIVING MY BEST LIFE EVERY DAY - UPDATE #2

Choosing a life of positivity one day at a time. And looking for those moments of joy that each and every day contains.

LIVING LIFE WITH A SMILE EVERY DAY

So much has been happening over the last few months, and seeing I still want to keep my blogging to one post a week, I decided to spin out my monthly update and make it a quarterly one - so today's post is what's been happening in my world for the second quarter of 2021 - it's the Autumn edition (with a little bit of Winter sneaking in at the end).

My focus this year is on moving towards 60 with a positive mindset and gratitude. Cultivating what makes my soul feel happy, and aiming to live my best life every day. Life will never be perfect, but it's full of perfect moments and a lot of little joys if we choose to look for them. These are the happy moments that have popped up over the last few months in my life.
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BEING PRESENT AND RECONNECTING WITH THE REAL WORLD

As life returns to a new normal we need to ensure that we begin to reconnect with the world around us again.

WHAT'S BEEN MISSING IN MY LIFE LATELY?

Over the last six months of so, I've been feeling a little out of sorts. I thought it might be due to the imminent approach of my 60th birthday later this year (I always have issues with changing decades). But then I realized it wasn't anything to do with that, it was the realization that my online life had taken over my in-real-life. Covid played a large part in tipping the scales in that direction - it's been so easy to stay home and to chat online, to write blog posts, to update my blog's Facebook page etc etc. But in the process, I can now see that my real world has shrunk and withered away due to neglect over the last couple of years.

Have I actually become a stay at home recluse? Or do I just need to make a few adjustments?
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WHY THE PROVERBS 31 WOMAN AND I WOULD NEVER BE BFFS

Who is the Proverbs 31 woman? Why I don't like her very much. And why it's time she stopped being a role model.

WHO IS THE PROVERBS 31 WOMAN?

If you haven't grown up in the church, the Proverbs 31 woman would be a complete unknown to you. For a lot of Christian women she is the Instagram Mum of early biblical days.....you know.....the woman who does everything, and does it so perfectly that she's used as the shining example of womanhood - and preached about every Mothers Day in churches all over the world.

This woman has been lauded throughout biblical history and even has a magazine and several websites devoted to her perfect example. But that kind of perfection is a little daunting, and I don't think I'd ever have wanted to spend much time with her. 

Here's why....
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WHOLEHEARTED LIVING - CULTIVATING CREATIVITY

3 great tips to cultivate creativity in all areas of your life - Fuel, Ritual, and Practice.

INTRO

Today I have the next guest in my series on Cultivating Wholehearted Living - thriving in the second half of life. Jennifer writes a really interesting blog called Unfold And Begin, and advocates for the use of Vision Boards for life planning, she even runs workshops on how to create and use them for goal planning and other creative outlets.

Jennifer is sharing some of her tips on how to bring more creativity into our lives - so on that note I'll hand it over to her to tell us her three steps to cultivating creativity...
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TURNING THE VOLUME DOWN A LITTLE (FOR NOW)

Turning off the comments to turn down the volume. Having a little break from being online too much.

TIME FOR A CHANGE

When I began this blog (back in September 2014) I was a complete blogging novice. I never expected people to find me online and I was hugely concerned that I might be trolled or have negative comments. So.....I turned the comments off for the first six months of blogging.

Over that time I connected with some lovely Midlife bloggers and they told me they wanted to leave a comment and couldn't. So.....I turned them on, and they've been on ever since.

But......
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5 GREAT CHOICES FOR CURATING A SIMPLE AND SATISFYING LIFE

5 simple choices to help you find a life of satisfaction and contentment

YOU GET TO CHOOSE YOUR LIFE

So many people feel like their life has a set course and they have very little control over the direction they're heading in. There are bills to be paid, career ladders to climb, mortgages to be paid, investments to be made, chores to be completed, families to raise, and a million other little tasks. 

But what happens when you start ticking some of those necessities off the list? What happens when the mortgage is under control, when the nest becomes empty, and when getting up for work every day becomes a chore in itself? Do you have to keep heading along the same beaten track, or can you start curating a new and more bespoke life to carry you through the years ahead? Today I'm covering a few choices that can lead towards curating a life that's simple and satisfying - and who doesn't want that?
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