My Story
 Adolescence
aside, I've navigated some pretty scary transitions in my life. My
father’s sudden death when I was 20. Getting married 6 weeks before my
40th birthday (yes, I kissed a lot of frogs before finding my prince and
no, all the good ones aren't taken.) At the same time, becoming step-mom
to two pre-adolescent boys. Yikes! Not to mention careers in retail,
sales and marketing, public relations, television and mega events
production. Oh, and starting three businesses.
So imagine my shock when I left a successful career behind, leaping into
my first retirement at age 50, and promptly crashed and burned. Then,
crashed and burned several more times before I started to get it right.
I didn't have a clue what I was in for. I had no plan. And, my only
retirement role models were, well, pretty scary.
You see, my Dad worked hard all of his life and had big dreams to live
when he retired at 65. The only problem was he never made it. He died
fairly suddenly of leukemia at 63.
What would Dad's life have been like if he hadn't waited to live his
dreams?
My mom happily took an early retirement at age 62 from her federal
government job. The glitch? With only a foggy notion of retirement and
absolutely no planning, she moved into what was expected - a traditional
retirement of rest and leisure. Sounded great at the time. But sadly,
over the last 23 years of her life, I watched her slowly contract into
herself.
Mom passed away peacefully in May 2007. Her courage, grace, beauty and
sense of humor during the final weeks of her life were an inspiration.
It was as if she had come back to life in order to make her final
transition.
What would those 23 years have been like for her if she hadn't retired
from life when she retired from her job?
I'm
grateful for these powerful lessons. From Dad: Don't put off living
until retirement. From Mom: Don't stop living in retirement.
 So, instead of retiring from life, I decided to retire those parts of my
life that no longer fit. Along the way, I learned patience because it
takes time to do it right. And, I learned to truly enjoy the journey,
I relocated to a place of beauty that nourishes my soul daily. I
designed a life of balance and joy. And, I created an encore career that
taps into my passion, earns me a great living, and for the first time in
my life, I feel that the work that I do makes a difference. I love
sharing what I learned with successful women – like you – so you can
move from your current work life into the encore career – and life – of
your dreams.
The best part: I get to be totally and completely me 24/7. I’m a
recovering yo-yo dieter, adrenalin addict, and "good girl". At last, I'm
comfortable in my own body. Would I like to lose weight? Sure. Could I
exercise more? Oh, yeah. Do I know everything? No way.
But, I'm no longer waiting to weigh less, exercise more, know more, or
do the "right" (read that as appropriate) thing in order to live my
life. I'm using the changes that come to fuel me forward, and I keep
stretching outside my comfort zone, because the more I do, the more
confident I become. I've learned that’s where the juice is.
I truly believe that anything is possible. This is our time. There's
less of it ahead of us than behind us. So, let's not waste a minute of
it! |
