"One Year to Live" - My Class in San Miguel de Allende
Two months ago when the waters of Santa Rosa Sound were choppy and the day so grey I could barely see the boat house at the end of the dock I was taken back in time and place.Today reminds me of a time when my daughter, Elizabeth, and I were making our way southward on a 42-foot sailboat in mid-December
Not This Life . . . That Life
I have not posted in a while. I couldn’t. I lost my endeavor. I didn’t feel like it.
Besieged is how I have felt. Priorities I carefully chose suddenly began to compete for my energy. The necessities of participating in life (and moments of trying to figure it out what was happening) made even the creative possibilities I set in motion impossible.I was deprived of clarity. It happens…
Let’s Have Dinner and Talk About Death (and Life)
There’s nothing I like better than good conversation at my dining table. Good conversation is rich, and rewarding. Good conversation means you learn something that makes your life better.But while the grilled swordfish is the best ever, what’s said or not said around the dinner table can’t be predicted.It’s a rarity. But once is a while, I pray for any talk to be exchanged.
Just Selfish Enough: Fighting for the Life You Want
Liam, my four-year-old grandson, is curious about the planets, overturns rocks to pick up any bugs that don’t move fast and chooses to release his highly prized lightening bug from the jar – “because he is lonely.”Each afternoon on the playground when his name is called for pick up, Liam runs to his two best friends, Isaiah and Anna Noelle, to give each one a hug goodbye. The child is curious, affectionate, loving and kind.Liam is also selfish.
How to Render the Desires of Your Grown-Up Heart into Life Ahead
In the blue distance your life will unfurl.
I wish people spent more time contemplating that blue distance and less time on Facebook.There is so much more to life unseen by the eye. Brazen of me to say as Instagram revels in double-digit growth. Selfies are now one of the most popular activities in our culture. Don’t tell me you haven’t done this.
Why It Matters to Know When You Leave Midlife Behind
“Let’s pretend for a moment that I am 73.”
That’s what I said to the audience an hour into my presentation, The New New Rules of Retirement. They knew immediately this was make-believe because I don’t look 73.At least I don’t think I look 73. Anyway I am not 73…yet.
The Working Retirement: 7 Things To Do Within 5 Years of Leaving Your Job
It’s no joke. You intend to create a different kind of life in the future.In this imagined life, you cease responding to texts and emails that waste your time. You’ll never again endure a narcissist’s rant.No long commutes, improbable targets and boring, stupid meetings.No way.In this new life, the day unfolds just the way you’d like.
Ten Ways to Transition into Paid Work Instead of Retirement
Yesterday outside Publix, I ran into an old friend. We talked, caught up and then he asked about my work.“I’m helping people uncover possibilities for being productive in work until they want to retire at 85!”He smiled.
My Life, My Art: How to Make 2016 Your Kick-Ass Year
We live our lives. We don’t make our lives. Isn’t that right?Of course not. I know you know this.We make the lives we live – step by step, plunge by plunge. We construct, formulate and compose a production using our energies and spirit along with whatever else is thrown our way.Currently our life's play is stimulating, wonderful, dissatisfying, miserable, boring or downright dull.
When Old Friends Aren’t Good Friends Anymore
Let’s begin this valuable, well-researched and personal rant on friendship at the playground. “Do you want to play with me,” asks the three-year-old. What happens next can be heartwarming or heartbreaking. Sometimes there’s no reply, simply a look between two kids before they begin to play together. Just as often, a child says, “No,” turns…
Starry, Starry ‘Life’ - Inspire Your Reinvention with a Transition Story (6 Tips and 9 Ideas)
What’s the dream for your life ahead? How hard are you pushing yourself to get it?The Rijksmuseum is TripAdvisor’s #1 rated ‘Things to do” in Amsterdam. But not for me. On my visit last month I wanted none of those dark Dutch paintings.I wanted Van Gogh’s “Starry, Starry Night.” Turns out “The Starry Night” is in New York and part of the Museum of Modern Art’s Permanent Collection since 1941
Reinventing Yourself? Why You Need a Transition Story.
The inside window ledges of the homes in Northern Holland tell stories.During my ten-day visit I saw handsome turquoise pottery, painted pitchers, tall vases with flowers, ceramic birds and farm animals, wooden ships, and tin angels displayed in the windows.In villages on the Frisian Islands, homes with large front windows edge the sidewalks.
Lost in Transition? Try the 'Tough Cookie 100-Day Plan for Getting Unstuck' (Over 30 Ideas)
There are only two types of people in the world: people who do what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it, and people who don’t do what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it.I am the first type. I do what I say I am going to do. Unless, of course, I'm stuck. I hate getting stuck.
Stuck? Confused? Can’t Find Your Late-in-Life Groove? You Need a 'Tough Cookie' Voice.
Getting stuck in a life transition isn’t fun. Even smack in the middle of a lull when we feel something’s bound to come along to move us forward (we’re not sure what) is enough to make us think we missed a step we should have known about.
The #1 Myth of Midlife Change: How It Holds You Back and Ways to Bust It Up
“Roll up your sleeves - midlife change is your best and last chance to become the real you.”Thus begins the article, “The Existential Necessity of Midlife Change,” in the Harvard Business Review OnPoint,Your Next Move, Summer 2015.I was puzzled momentarily. The term “real you” is odd, isn’t it?Who are you now if you’re not the real you?Here’s the answer:
Crossing Muddy Waters: Feeling Deeply Through Loss
What awaits all of us is loss. This is a grown-up truth.Loss sneaks up on you. Suddenly it becomes harder to breathe.Loss is large, small, often unexpected and unwanted. We all know individuals who face destroyed or derailed careers, tumultuous terminations of marriages, the negative biopsy report, cruel aftermaths of an unfortunate financial move or the plight of frail parents as they nosedive toward an end.Loss can defeat us. Loss will bring you to your knees.I am on mine.
Five Things People Who Love Their Post50 Lives Don’t Do
One day you think: Oh, here is the rest of my life. It’s finally arrived.The map of how you got here may be in front of you, but what to do now? No map for that.Still we do figure it out.Not all of us do it well. At least, not every time.
I solved life after college graduation rather fine. But post-divorce invoked a shaky time that curled my toes and wreaked havoc on providing for my daughter in a fitting way. (My mom sent money.)
