Several years back, I was watching the CBS Sunday Morning News Show, and they were interviewing Tom Petty (RIP) just before or after his 60th birthday. The news guy asked him how he felt about turning 60, and Tom said something like, “well there’s only one other option.” That really stuck in my head. I was in my mid-late 30s at the time, my life was really different, and aging kinda scared me.

Now, at 49 turning 50 in 5 months, I easily accept aging. It’s part of the process, and as Michele mentioned, a privilege. My body has definitely changed, but I’m still healthy and can still surf, do yoga, pull up cardio workouts on youtube, run, etc… and I’m a heck of a lot wiser and appreciate my mental and spiritual growth so very much.

Enjoy the journey!

We all have our own paths, and if I want others to respect mine, I should also respect theirs.

This made me think of a passage I read last week in this little book called Jesus Calling – June 16 included this:
“I have called each of my children to a different path, distinctly designed for that one. Do not let anyone convince you that his path is the only right way. And be careful not to extol your path as superior to another’s way. What I require of you is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with me – wherever I lead.”

Enjoy the journey!

Trees give so much life. They are a great example to us… there are so many different kinds, all with their own roles. They are rooted in the ground, but they sway with the wind as needed. If a branch needs to be trimmed or removed, they learn to grow in a new direction. They offer safety and the energy they emit is incredible. I can’t help but think of my college years…we used to always say, “hug a tree.” I appreciate the fruit, flowers, and shade that they give. I am feeling rooted just thinking about them all!

If I really sit and think about my mortality, I cannot help but be grateful. My body functions well, so long as I take care of it. My heart continues to beat, the blood flows, the feet move me around. I’m grateful for this body I’ve been given to travel around in. It has work to do while it is here (and I do not mean the job I go punch a clock for), and it also would like to be a 90-something year old surfer someday 🙂 I know this body won’t last forever, but it wasn’t meant to, despite being so perfectly designed.

In January 2017, I was trying to figure out how to escape from my ex-husband. I had made the poor choice 3 years prior to allow him back into my life and move into an apartment attached to his grandmother’s house, so I couldn’t kick him out like I had before. I made a decision a few months prior that I was going to leave… I had to because it got to a point where all I could think was one of us had to die. And that wasn’t what I really wanted. I prayed and meditated and prayed and mediated, begging for help. Asking for the right thing to open up and allow me my life back. So one night that January, I woke and remembered my friend telling me she was going to be getting a new roommate in February. The light clicked, and I texted her in the middle of the night telling her I wanted that room, quickly deleting the text after. We spoke the next day, and she changed her arrangements so that I could move in. There’s no way I could have supported myself on my own, and this was one of the greatest gifts I had ever been given at that time. Even though living with her wasn’t what I thought it would be, it was a step to my freedom and gave me even greater faith in a Higher Power.