IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE

if we were having coffee

IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE

If we were having coffee these are a few things I'd be sharing from the lovely month of May. I always enjoy a good 'Taking Stock' blog post, so I hope you'll humour me and sit a while as I share my news. There's nothing like a virtual cuppa and a chat, and I have lots to share from the last few weeks..

LIVING A LIFE OF JOY

cresting the hill

FINDING JOY IN OUR LIVES

Do you live a life full of joy or are you just scraping by and finding a few scraps of joy here and there in the daily hustle and bustle of life? I used to think that joy was the Golden Snitch of life - occasionally you managed to catch it, but most of the time it was snatched from your grasp by life's ups and downs.

If you're wondering where your joy is, or where it went to, or how to get it back, maybe some of my experiences will ring a bell for you and start you back on the path to joyful living.

WHAT HAPPENS IN A MIDLIFE METAMORPHOSIS?

cresting the hill

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Whenever life throws us a curveball, we're left with the mighty question - Where to from here? I think we've all asked it at various times of our lives. I know that I'm in the middle of asking myself what I'm planning to do with the days, months, years ahead now that I'm not working anymore. Paid employment has been part of my adult life for the last 40 years - so what do I do now that it's not who I am any more?

WHEN YOU'RE IN A SEASON OF WAITING

cresting the hill

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU'RE TREADING WATER?

It's been 9 weeks of "gainful UN-employment" for me now - that's 9 weeks since I left the work drama behind after giving my 2 weeks' notice and walking out the door for the final time. In some ways it seems longer than a couple of months, but at the same time, it's the longest I've ever been "between jobs" - previously I've gone straight from one job to the next without a break.

INVESTING IN WHAT'S IMPORTANT

cresting the hill

IMPORTANT OR IRRELEVANT? YOU DECIDE

We're onto "I" in the "List of More" and today it's about figuring out what's important and focusing our time and energy on those things, rather than getting caught up in the little stuff that keeps us busy, but achieves very little. The trick is to figure out what has meaning and purpose in your life and turn your attention to that, while letting the more trivial stuff take a back seat.

WHAT IF YOU WANT TO STOP WORKING IN YOUR 50's?

cresting the hill

WHEN CAN I LEGITIMATELY STOP WORK?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how I've been thrashing the question "when is it okay to stop work" around in my head a lot over the last couple of months. As most of you would know, I resigned from that not-so-perfect Perfect Job at the beginning of March. I needed to get out before I drowned in the drama and chaos that was the daily norm, but in the process I've been tossed into a bit of a quandry of my own making. That quandry is whether to stop work permanently now I'm 57.