Are you starting to think every woman but you sails smoothly into her 60s and lives happily ever after?

You might think so if you read the stories here and elsewhere about women thriving in their 60s and beyond.

You might think so if you read the comments on this and other blogs that indicate the writers are happy and doing well.

You might think so if you saw the comments on the  Savoring Your Sixties page on Facebook  as well as other Facebook pages for older women.

But this is definitely not the whole story.

I’m thrilled by inspiring stories of women making the most of their 60s and love to share them with you.

I’m delighted by comments that give us all hope that life after 60 can be fun and fulfilling.

Keep that good stuff coming!

But that good stuff is definitely not the whole story!

I didn’t sail smoothly through 60. Last year I was dreading, dreading, dreading it. I’ve (mostly) made my peace with it and am once again enjoying my life (most of the time). But it took some work for me to get through the 60 knothole.

Emails I receive tell a different story, too. In this private communication, women tell me of the struggles and worries and challenges and difficulties they are having at this time of their lives.

Plus conversations with other women, books, magazine articles, and internet research also tell me that turning 60 isn’t easy for everyone.

If you’re not smoothly sailing into your 60s, please know . . .

You are not alone. There are many women like you. We understand.

Many women who struggled with turning 60 worked their way through that knothole and created lives they love at 60 and beyond.

There’s room here for all of us.

Those who sailed through.

Those who hit rough sea around 60 but successfully navigated their way through it.

Those who are still struggling.  (Yes, if you’re struggling now you will at some point join the group who has successfully navigated through it. It’s a process. It takes time and some work.  And you can do it!)

We can all learn and teach and inspire and be inspired by each other.

Thoughts? Click on Comments below and write away.

Smiling, laughing, fun – all part of savoring your sixties.

So, just for fun . . . Watch this 2½ minute video (I wish it had been longer!) of  fifties teen idols.

Have a little smile. Sing along with the tunes. Enjoy the memories.

Who were your favorite musical stars in the fifties? Click on Comments and tell us.

Thanks to Jacquie Harkema at  http://www.sixtysomethingnow.com/  for posting this on her blog so I could enjoy it myself and then share it with my readers.

What is your passion?

What is your ultimate aim for your life?

These seem like good, important questions for you to ask yourself, don’t they? 

But for many of us, these questions are so big that we thrash around with them, getting stuck, confused and paralyzed.

I’d suggest two variations to these questions that will be much more useful . . .

1) Instead on seeking one, singular, all consuming passion,  look for the many things you’re passionate about.

2) Use your collection of passions to point you in a direction for your life, rather than trying to figure out the exact destination

In this 4½ minute video, author, entrepreneur, and virtual CEO Randy Komisar offers a useful perspective on  finding and pursuing your passion.

How do you deal with these big questions? Click on Comments below and write away.

I’ve watched it happen many times. The woman I’m coaching looks brighter, more radiant, and more alive than she did when we started our conversation.  Often she looks younger. Always her beauty shines.

She’s had a “face lift” – without the pain, recovery time, or expense of surgery.

And that’s not even the best part! 

She’s getting a “life lift” as well, finding her path to more joy, fun, passion, and purpose.

What is this magic? The woman is connecting with what lights her up.

What’s That?

What lights you up is what energizes and enlivens you. It is a physiological response that can be seen, heard, felt, and sensed in your eyes, face, voice, and body.

When you’re “lit up” you have a twinkle in your eye, lilt in your voice, and spring in your step. There is a visible aliveness, radiance, and vitality about you. You feel energized and enlivened. 

Your Internal GPS

What lights you up is a powerful inner GPS, a navigation system to guide you to more passion, aliveness, joy, and vitality in your life. And who doesn’t want more of that!?!

When you notice what lights you up and give yourself permission to do more of that, you can change your face as well as your life, like the “instant face lift” women I’ve seen.

Focus on what lights you up and add more of this to your life; your true beauty will shine and so will you!

Thoughts about this? Click Comments below and write away.

Yes, I have my moments.  Times when I’m upset or worried or anxious or afraid.  Do you have moments like this too?

Lately I’ve been experimenting a bit with  The Sedona Method.  The book’s been on my shelf for years but I’ve not read much of it.

The Sedona Method is a simple technique for releasing unwanted emotional states. So simple you wouldn’t think it would work. But I think maybe it does. At least some of the time. Who knows, maybe even much of the time.

Want to try experimenting with it yourself? Here are 4 steps to get started.

1) Focus on an issue you’d like to feel better about. Let yourself feel what you are feeling. Become aware of how you feel in this moment.

2) Ask yourself one of these three questions:

Could I let this feeling go?
Could I allow this feeling to be here?
Could I welcome this feeling?

Either yes or no is fine. Don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the question, just answer it.

3) No matter which question you asked yourself in step 2 or how you answered it, ask yourself:

Would I?

You’re asking yourself if you are willing to let go. Again, don’t overthink your answer. If you’re not sure or if your answer is no, ask “Would I rather have this feeling or be free?”

Even if your answer is no, go to the next step.

4) Ask yourself:

When?

You may decide to let it go now. Or not. Either way is fine.

5) Repeat each of the 4 steps until you feel free of or better about the feeling.

The results may be subtle or noticeable. And each step towards letting go of unwanted feelings takes you closer to freedom.

 Have you tried this? Click on Comments and let us know how it works for you.

Is turning 60 (or later) the time for a new career? Why not?

Many people over 60 are now choosing encore careers, careers that allow them to use their skills and experience to make a difference in the world.

The Kauffman Foundation says that in the past decade the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity has been from people between 55 to 64 years old.

Could this be you? For inspiration and to get your creative juices going, read this article on  Starting a New Career  at 60.

Thoughts? Click on Comments & write away.

Imagine you’re on an airplane taking off from Seattle, heading to Boston. What if, during the course of the flight, the pilot changed the plane’s heading by one degree?

Where would you end up then? Virginia, Florida, or somewhere in the Caribbean? Not Boston, that’s for sure!

Changing course by just one degree makes a huge difference.

So it is with our lives.

We want something different, something more, something better but somehow we get stuck. We do the same old things, travel on the same old course, get the same old results.

If this is you, you might be thinking that you have to be crystal clear about what you want before you take action. Perhaps you’re waiting for “the” answer or the “right” answer. You may be convinced the only way to get what you want is to make big, difficult changes in your life.

There is another way.

You can make a one degree course correction in your life and get dramatically different results.

How? Take small steps towards what lights you up.

Small Steps

You don’t have to wait until you know where you’re going, are clear about what you want, or have all the answers. You don’t have to overwhelm yourself with big, difficult changes. You don’t have to get into a frenzy of action and burn yourself out.

Just start with small steps.

Small steps are manageable. They’re doable.  They’ll lead you on a kinder, gentler, more sustainable path to what you want.

Not just any old steps will do the trick though.

To get the most impact, take steps that light you up, steps that energize and enliven you.

Lights on actions can dramatically change your present experience as well as the future direction of your life. They’ll increase your energy, build momentum for the next step, and accelerate your movement towards what you want. Plus you’ll enjoy yourself more along the way!

Skip the draining to do’s! Follow your energy, your light, your aliveness — whether it’s a tiny glimmer or a big beacon — and see where it leads you.

Just like small hinges turn a big door so can small, lights on steps change your life.

 This post is excerpted from my latest ezine. Want to read about a woman who went from “really stuck” to “exuberant, giddy”  with small, lights on steps plus get some suggestions for doing this in your own life? Send me an email requesting the full article. 

Then sign up to get my ebook and ezine  (upper right hand corner of this page) so you won’t miss any future articles.

I love finding role models for living well after 60.

Give yourself a quick treat by watching this shining example: Janey Cutler, 80 years old and singing  No Regrets on Britain’s Got Talent.  She’ll move and inspire you.

If Janey can do this at 80, what can you do now and in the coming years?

Such a  simple way to a life you love    —  do more of what you love!

In my last post in this series,  Make a Lights List,  I shared one way to discover or reconnect with what you love so you can do more of it.

Here’s another way to discover what you love.

Become a light detective.

Take 24 hours (or more) and go on a mission to learn more about what lights you up, what energizes and enlivens you, what you love.

Be aware and awake. Give up knowing and just notice without the filters of your opinions, judgments, history, and so on.

Gather clues.  Which activities and interactions light you up? Which knock your lights out?

As you move through your day, pay close attention to your energy. Keep asking, “Am I more alive, more energized, and lights on? Or am I duller, more drained, and lights off?”

Using these clues,  do more of what you love, what energizes and enlivens you, and less of what drains you.

I hope you will allow yourself to do more of what you love. When you do this you’ll be happier, those around you will be positively affected, and who knows how this may even ripple out into the world.

Thoughts about this? Click on Comments and write away.

Such a  simple way to a life you love    —  do more of what you love!

I know it’s obvious but it can be so easy to forget or ignore this in the midst of the hubbub of life, the routines, the “shoulds” and the “to do’s.”

Sometimes we don’t even know or remember what we love. So how could we do more of it?

If you don’t know what you love (or would like to know more), try this. . . .

Create a “Lights List.”

What lights you up? What do you love? What are you passionate about? What makes you smile just thinking of it?

Take a few minutes to write a list of as many of your lights — your energizers — as you can. 

Yes, actually write these down!  There’s power in the writing plus you’ll have the list when you need reminding.

Notice how your energy changes just thinking of things that light you up.

If you have trouble coming up with these, don’t worry. Not many of us ask ourselves these kinds of questions.

If, in the next few weeks (and for the rest of your life!), you keep asking yourself “What lights me up?” you will get answers!

What’s on your “lights list?” Click on Comments and tell us.

You can read the next post in this series here,  Lights List.