MIDLIFE ROCKS! LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT

Midlife Rocks! There is so much to Midlife to be grateful for. Here's 12 different aspects that are fabulous. #midlife #midliferocks

MIDLIFE ROCKS!

All my blogging over last week or so about the joys of the empty nest has reminded me of how much I'm loving this stage of life. For me, Midlife has been a time of finding myself - discovering who I really am under all the different hats I've been wearing over the years (wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, employee etc). It has been a real time of waking up - opening my eyes to all that has gone before and all that is yet to come. Now is the time to live in the moment, seize the day, grab life with both hands - because Midlife Rocks!

I have a Pinterest Board called "Free to be Me" and it's where I collect pictures of lovely things that are just about me and midlife (there seems to be a lot of coffee, cats and pink!) They serve no other purpose other than me thinking "I really like that" and it's a reflection of how I feel about a lot of things now days. I can like something because it interests me and I don't have to think about how it affects anyone else, I don't have to keep putting my likes or needs at the end of the list - now I can start putting myself further up the food chain - and that's amazing!

WHAT I AM AND AM NOT

It doesn't mean I have to be out hitting the shops or trying to keep up with the Joneses, it just means I have time to actually figure out who I am and what I really like. I can allow myself the luxury of dreaming about things and choosing whether I want to do them or not. It means I can open my heart and see what has been hidden deep down and start bringing it up into the sunshine - and I'm loving that.

 I know I'm not the world's warmest, fuzziest, touchie-feeliest person around, I know I get cheesed off about things sometimes and I don't suffer fools gladly. I know I can be impatient and a little too task oriented. But I also know that I am a loyal friend, I will laugh with you and support you, I am reliable and trustworthy, I have so much still to offer and to learn. This is the time of life where I can develop and work on some of the areas that could do with a bit of polishing up - but to also cut myself a bit of slack and say that I'm doing fine and I'm a good person - sometimes I'm even great!

I'm kind but I get cranky, I'm nice but not a pushover ~ zen to zany
I Am ~ from Zen to Zany
ASSUMPTIONS CAN BE KILLERS

Midlife has been such an eye-opener for me. I had so many assumptions about who I was, I thought I was on the downhill ride into being old and boring, I thought I was trapped in the job I was doing because I was too old to move on, I thought my marriage was doing fine, I thought I could trust all my friends...... I had NO IDEA! So many of these things have been turned on their head over the last few years - and, although it's been painful at times, it has been the greatest sloughing off of old and unnecessary parts of my life, and the replacement of those dead areas with new thoughts, experiences and relationships - it's been a chance to really thrive.

SELF WORTH

A friend said to me the other day "I just don't know how to get self-worth, I look at you Leanne and I don't know how you do it." My reply was "You should have seen me three years ago." So much has happened in the last few years, so many ups and downs and twists and turns. You don't grow by staying in the same place, the Bible says "you don't put new wine in an old wineskin". I had to shed my old skin (and it can be painful) to find the new me - I had to be brave enough to risk leaving my job, risk losing my marriage, risk losing an old friend or two......but ohhhh it's been worth every moment of pain to get to where I am now.

SO FOR NOW

So in answer to my friend's question about self worth - you don't get it by staying stuck in the same place - spinning your wheels just sinks your further into the mud. You have to make the decision to move forward and take action. Life is what you make it, Midlife is definitely what you make it. There is no settling into boring middle age going on around here, I'm living it and loving it, and I look at my 74 year old mother with her young lover, her Red Hat Society, her friends and her social life and as far as I can see, Midlife is just the beginning!

Midlife Rocks! There is so much to Midlife to be grateful for. Here's 12 different aspects that are fabulous. #midlife #midliferocks

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23 comments

  1. Jennifer2 September 2016 at 21:31

    I'm living Midlife too! The freedom to be myself and explore new adventures is the best

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:21

      it is isn't it Jennifer - it's so nice to be living life on our own terms.

      Delete
  2. Unknown2 September 2016 at 21:32

    "you don't get it by staying stuck in the same place.." truer words were never spoken...we need to keep moving forward, whatever our age...

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:21

      If you don't keep moving and learning and developing you run the risk of becoming really boring and that's scary!

      Delete
  3. Unknown2 September 2016 at 22:25

    I am absolutely loving midlife!!! :)

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:21

      Me too Monica - who'd have thought it was such a great time of life??? :)

      Delete
  4. Middle-aged Diva (Carol)2 September 2016 at 23:20

    I have such a hard time getting why women feel so little self worth. It seems sometimes to be epidemic and I can't figure out why.
    Carol

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:22

      I'm not sure what we're a product of Carol (and how you were lucky enough to miss out) but I'm so glad we didn't end up in the grave never knowing what self confidence is!

      Delete
  5. Rebecca Olkowski3 September 2016 at 01:59

    You've been through so much and it's exciting to see that you are using your obstacles to your advantage to make life better for yourself. It's true that midlife is the perfect time to begin again.

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:23

      It's the one big chance to spend some time thinking about who you really are and what you want and going for it Rebecca - if not now then when?? :)

      Delete
  6. Lee Gaitan3 September 2016 at 06:11

    Spinning your wheels just sinks you further in the mud--so true, but so hard to see sometimes. What a great, liberating, encouraging post!

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:24

      I've watched people sinking into the mud because they keep going over the same ground and not moving on - it's heartbreaking and they're missing so much.

      Delete
  7. LIV3 September 2016 at 09:01

    It really is great to be here isn't it!!??

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:24

      Who'd have thought? But yes it is an amazing time of life :)

      Delete
  8. Lois Alter Mark3 September 2016 at 13:11

    I am so with you. I don't know what I expected midlife to be like but it's so much richer and more fun than I would have imagined!

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    1. Leanne3 September 2016 at 15:25

      Exactly Lois - I think I had visions of middle age like the generations before ours. But we seem to be having so much more fun and looking and feeling younger than they did.

      Delete
  9. Ellen Dolgen5 September 2016 at 23:16

    I don't think I really focused on mid-life much when I was younger so I had no real expectations one way or another. However, in 14 days I will be 63. I agree with you, 'I am living it and loving it!'Exploring new things, new ways of approaching my life and open to exploring anything and everything that life can hold!

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    1. Leanne9 September 2016 at 13:18

      I never saw midlife as something to be celebrated Ellen - it's a discovery that has really rocked my world and it makes me really appreciate this stage of life - living and loving it indeed :)

      Delete
  10. Janice Wald9 September 2016 at 03:59

    Hi Leanne,
    I agree that midlife rocks.
    Thanks for coming to Blogger's Pit Stop last week.
    Janice, Pit Stop Crew

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    Replies
    1. Leanne9 September 2016 at 13:19

      It's like being part of a club Janice - a really fun and friendly one!

      Delete
  11. Unknown9 September 2016 at 10:28

    Great perspective on years to come and life in general.

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    1. Leanne9 September 2016 at 13:19

      Thanks Melissa - it will be here before you know it and it's nice for you to see that it's not all doom and gloom.

      Delete
  12. Unknown13 September 2016 at 06:47

    I love the positive outlook on what life is like after the kids have grown up that I read about here!

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