Welcome to my new blog inspired by a discovery made on my
latest self-improvement and information gathering course. I like information because you never know
what you don't know; all the processing keeps the mind young; and
as long as you're still curious you know you haven't become 'the older
generation'.
I recently decided that now I've nearly finished my first
book I would kick my public speaking work back into gear, so where better to start than
on a professional course run by a professional company who count among their
members some pretty sassy, original and 7 figure inspirational speakers - and me!
I decided it was about time to overcome my isolationalism (otherwise
known as authoring) and join something new.
The first thing they said was "pick a target
audience". "I am NOT going to
be pigeonholed" I thought "I am a GEMINI, we are FLEXIBLE. I am highly trained in a number of very
important disciplines and I can pick INSPIRATION out of THIN AIR SO
THERE!"
I find the entire idea of a pigeonhole deeply annoying
because each client is individual and deserves to be treated that way, after
all I'm a life coach not a teacher forced to deliver a government inspired
curriculum for the terminally similar who are of course nothing at all alike
and every teacher knows that.
I've trained in several different disciplines across a broad
range of thought practices just so I could have a toolbox full of methods to
help all these wonderful individuals that I'm going to save from a fate worse
than death (or accountancy).
I believe in inspiration and flexibility (as long as I don't
have to wrap my feet round my head during yoga), and this super-successful
person who has it all and knows how I can get it wants to put me into a
pigeonhole and won't even give me a pigeon!
That's just cruel!
However, he asked us to think about what really matters to
us and I realised that what gets up my nose is the attitude to age not just
from the media but inside our own heads.
For some reason ageing can bring fear and a feeling of life having
passed you by and I wanted to encourage people to stay active and embrace new
challenges until they're at least 90.
We live in a culture where doctors, television programmes, newspapers and magazines are only too delighted to tell you the many different ways your life's
in danger; where women are thrown off TV when they get a
frown line, and a D-Day Veteran who had to escape his nursing home in order to
attend the D-Day ceremonies is described in the papers as a 'game old boy' rather than a still strong man with Dunkirk determination.
When we were asked to stand up and in a few short words
explain who our target market was I found myself saying "I'm 57 and I want
to inspire people to be youthful until they're 90!" And I realised that's true.
So now I had a pigeon hole with one sentence in it, but
still no pigeon and I like pets. Mind
you, I wouldn't mind a kitten in my pigeonhole, but that's another story and
likely the ramblings of an older mind. However, I'm nothing if not resourceful, so this blog will
be appropriate to:
· * Anyone in their 40s
· * Anyone older
· * Anyone younger
Why am I including the youngsters in my Rockin' 50's Super
Club? Because only us Golden Oldies are truly
able to teach them how often you can muck up before you're 50 and how to avoid
those snafus, bug-a-boos, rolls of fat and creaking joints.
However, inspiring the Rockin' 50's to live, rebel and rock this life will be my primary focus and believe me as well as creating some of that truly best medicine, laughter, I am going to be seeking information and inspiration to help us all live a more active and joyful life.
We can't give up and sit
on sofas watching questionable TV until we're too stiff to move when there's a
life out there, mountains to climb and chaos to cause. We just can't because it's our life and it needs LIVING not surviving.
Plus we have a duty to
show the younger generation how to age well.
Both my Grandmothers reached a ripe old age - 87 1/2 and 98 1/2 respectively - and
they're my greatest inspiration. They
didn't give up on life, they kept their interest in what was going on around
them, and no one told them what to do - and if they did they didn't do it.
Grandmother 87 1/2 once went on a day trip by coach with the
other residents from her nursing home.
7.30 pm came and went and no coach load of wrinklies appeared back at
the nursing home. 8.00 pm, 9.00 pm and
10.00 pm passed and they were practically ready to call the police, just as my
grandmother brought back a coach load of drunken pensions post pub crawl. She'd bribed the coach driver to stop at a
few pubs on the way home. I want to be
worse than her!
If you love your family then it's your duty to show them how
to age well, to encourage them to keep their bodies moving and their minds alive, and to be curious
about life and ready to learn new things.
If you get stuck in a rut they probably will. If you stop learning they might think they
know it all. If you stop living they
could very well spend their 60s, 70s and 80s talking about their 30s and
40s. If you reject new inventions they
may do the same. No, our job is to age
well retaining lively minds, good memories and a passion for life.
I was once part of a team that discovered two very good
Tarot Readers, one was 76 and the other 79.
The female said to us that each week she attended a coffee morning with
a group of friends and it was the turn of one each week to introduce the others
to something new. It was her turn the following
week and boy was she looking forward to it.
The retired Brigadier was going round the table reading everyone's cards
for them and blowing minds right, left and centre including his own. He was fascinated and it was a wonderful
experience; one of those that makes you feel you're blessed rather than
working.
So this is my new blog, my new venture and my new
focus, and hopefully this is the one straightforward blog you're going to read, I'm after giggles and gut bellowing laughter from now on.
If you feel that you've gone
wrong and there's no getting back then give me a call because there is no way
back but there's always a way forwards.
There is always a way to change your life no matter how old you are and
no matter how deeply you've shovelled yourself into a rut.
If you've recently retired or have that ending looming on
your horizon and have no idea what to do with the rest of your life other than
veg in a chair or finally catch up with the list of household tasks that have
needed doing since 1962, let me know and we will find you a distraction
that will keep your mind alive, your heart beating to the tune of an
enthusiastic drummer, and your thoughts off ball cocks!
Until the next blog
Rebel properly, walk on the wild
side, and if you wear 6" heels insure your ankles.
(Next: The Credit
Card Number!)
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