July 21, 2024

Time goes so fast and I think it's speeding up the older I get. It's been Sunny and wonderful most days this summer and I'm grateful for that, it is my favorite season. 
Recently, I went to my doctor for help with weight loss and vaping. We changed some of the medication I take to support me with my effort to get healthier. I also made some changes to my eating style and have been doing intermittent fasting and I am having success with it. It actually is very easy for me to eat this way, especially with the option of eating what I want within reason during my eating window. I feel like I'm having success, so far I've lost about 6lbs in the past 3 weeks and I'm feeling really good about that.
I am having some issues with my filter and not feeling like myself. There have been 2 occasions where I have reacted in a rude way to something that was said to me. Yesterday I was struggling with negative thoughts and feelings, and it finally dawned on me that something is very off with me and that the med change may be affecting  my perspective and I have reached out to my doctor and let her know what I'm feeling and will see what she thinks we should do.

Mental health is a huge part of self care. We get so busy with the day to day and living how we think we should be living, we don't listen to our inner voice. Today, I'm listening to myself, focusing on having a positive perspective and recognizing that I deserve the best. And so do you. 

Sunday June 30, 2024

It's a gloomy day here in the PNW. I'm relaxing at home, feeling tired and a little on the funky side.
It has actually been a pretty nice early Summer, the days alternating between sunny and overcast, not a ton of rain. I'm grateful it's not dumping rain and that the sun peeks thru. 

Sometimes trying to establish what exactly is going on with myself is kind of hard..... I'm perimenopausal, just waiting for "the change", I take multiple medications for pain management, depression, water retention, bladder prolapse, muscle spasms. We recently changed meds to help with weight loss and quitting nicotine, PMS & just life......

So- What are ya gonna do? (Tony Soprano)
I am powerless over everything, the plan is already in motion, the contract signed long ago.  (check out Dolores Cannon) The only control I have is my reaction or response and the perspective I choose see the situation from.  I choose to BE love. I choose to stay positive and I give myself grace when I don't get it right.  I want to be a positive example, a teacher through my actions, a support to my people, someone who give comfort and someone who helps heal hearts & souls & a woman who lives in Gratitude. My life is bliss so much of the time, even on the harder days, my heart swells at the thought of  how blessed I am, in every way. 

June 9,2024

This is from my friends garden. It wasn't until a few years ago that I started to really appreciate the beauty of nature as Spring comes then turns to Summer and Summer to Fall. It all began when I started taking the babies that I nanny on walks and I literally stopped to smell the roses. On our walks we often paused to enjoy the beauty of the flowers in full bloom, to talk about the leaves on the trees come and go and all the changes in between. We saw sprouts poking up from beneath the dirt, blackberries ripening, we smelled the lavender and saw the too fast bloom of the lilies. Sharing these things with a little one has given me a perspective I doubt I would have had if I had not spent this time with them. There is so much in the world that I never paid attention to before.........

There is natural beauty everywhere and in everything, we just have to look from a positive perspective or mind set which only we can choose for ourselves, especially when we look in the mirror. 💜💕

                                                      May 27,2024

Summertime! My favorite time of year. I must say that I have come to appreciate Spring very much as I see growth and change everywhere....... it reminds me of my own personal seasons, but I think summer will always be my favorite.  As I get older, I guess I get wiser and I feel stronger in what I believe. It's also a time that I have to work very hard to accept my body as is, since I love to be in the water and swim suits are not very flattering on this well lived body of mine. The pouch, the sag and the stretched skin represents the most wonderful time in my life- bringing the lives of my sons into this world. What greater joy is there, what other experience in this life gives us more? As I reflect on the early years with my boys, I don't remember the whining or the tantrums, the refusing of healthy food, the embarrassing things they have done & learned from- those things fade out the older they get and all I remember about being a young mother is the joy, the laughter, being their safe place and the reciprocal unconditional love of mother and child. I still feel that and my babies are in their 30's. To me, love is always the answer. I know all of the hard things we have gone through from then til now have been their lessons and experience to become the people they are today. So when I look at this body in the mirror I have to remember, I'm a vessel of life. I did incredible things with this body- I brought life into this world and taught them how to contribute to society, I taught them they are special and that they deserve happiness, joy & love in their lives. I taught them they are worthy and how to be kind. I taught them they can stand on their own and accomplish anything they want. If I can do all of that, I can certainly learn to love the girl in the mirror, stretch marks, wrinkles, sagging boobs- all of it. Every line or mark on this precious meat suit are the map of my life and experience for all to see. How can I not love it with all my heart.....💜 Peace, joy & love to you always💜

As women, we tend to take on way too much responsibility. Of course it does completely depend on what kind of example and guidance we have been given throughout our lives. There are so many different kinds of families these days, and so many different examples set to the younger generations, it will be very interesting to see how the world evolves as they grow into adults. 
just food for thought- what do you think are the most important things we teach our young children to function well in the world. There are so many things we weren't thoroughly educated about to succeed in adulthood. We were taught by the school of hard knocks for knowing how best to take care of ourselves......? What can we do differently to prepare our youth for real life? Email your thoughts to me if you like. Love to you all. No matter how you feel about yourself or what you see in the mirror, lean on your circle to help you clear your vision💜💕

Helping others is always a good choice! It really does make you feel better when you help another.      Love each other.  "Be There" for each other. Share your experience, strength & hope or just sit together in peaceful silence💕💜

A lifetime of worrying and taking care of my children,

NOW is my time! My time for me....... what do I want? 

Love, love & more love! Joy, as much joy as I can handle, PEACE- Peace, Peace in my heart and in the world. 

Life is very much like a book with typos, happy chapters, sad chapters, traumatic chapters and chapters that make you feel empowered and accomplished so amazed with yourself & life, it's unbelievable! Write your book. Create your chapters it's a choice and all up to you! 

10/8/23

Childhood Trauma- I'm grateful that it there has been such a huge change in recognizing what is harmful to children, teaching them to protect their bodies and to use their voice when they are uncomfortable  with someone getting into their personal space-we're doing so many things differently. There is the concept of gentle parenting, it seems to me it encourages people to feel their feelings and hopefully teaching this to our younger generations, they will be better prepared to cope with reality and how they express themselves and hopefully have the confidence to know their mind and their convictions, to see their own value and beauty and share their undamaged, beloved souls with the world by living a life of kindness tolerance & love. But we also want them to be fighters for good. To do what's right. To live in peace and joy as much as possible. And then hopefully they will bring more individuals into the world and teach them kindness,honor peace, joy & love. And hopefully, on and on it goes...... 

Hello!

My very first blog entry! I shared with some people that I was starting a blog a few weeks ago and I'm just now posting.....

This has been an idea for quite some time and today, I'm actually doing this! 

This brings me to my first topic- Procrastination.

Let me just start by saying that if there was an award for it, I would be the winner.
               I am the Queen of Procrastination.
I have recognized for years that it is one of many character defects I possess when it comes to dealing with things;I pretty much put things off until the last possible moment or just don't do it. It seems that the more necessary it is, the harder it is for me to just do it. 

I have spent the past 21 years working on myself, trying to live a life I'm proud of, one that is filled with Love, inner peace, happiness & joy. And through this journey, I have learned to love myself, all of me, warts and all. I've learned to be gentle and honest with myself, especially when I make a mistake or miss a deadline. So what is it? What makes it so I don't just get it done? Fear? Laziness? 
not enough time? And then I do it and it feels so good to complete a thing- especially when it's something for me, something I want to do. And life goes on. I still don't know why- is it a learned behavior or something that develops when your young? Is is genetic? 

The why doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I continue to try my best to do what I need to do and to make sure that it doesn't affect anyone else negatively.  Procrastination isn't a negative word, it just means waiting until the last minute, so I don't beat myself up about it. It's just part of who I am, a part of myself that I'm very aware of. I will probably always be a Queen of procrastination and I'm ok with that. I'm so excited to finally share my thoughts with the world or whoever cares to read about them. I know I'm not the only one who has mastered procrastination and now so do you! Thank you for stopping by- see ya soon!

 Happy Friday to all of you!

It's been a pretty good week for me and I hope it was for you as well. As we approach the weekend, whatever you have scheduled, whatever you have committed to, be sure to make some self care time. Even if it's only 5 minutes to take some deep breaths, try to focus on what you're grateful for and thank the Universe or your God of choice, for the gifts in your life. Have an awesome weekend! I'll be back again soon. 

Hello!  Some thoughts to share......I've been working on self love and self acceptance more from the perspective of being past midlife and the aging process. I guess we go through it every age, but the older we get, the harder it is to see the physical body without negativity. All of the sagging or stretched skin. The  fat lumps and bumps all over from my belly button to my knees. The deep lines etched into my forehead, vertical lines from the sides of my nose all the way down to my chin, my nose which seems to me to get bigger the older I get,the crows feet at the corner of my eyes and everything internally & externally that aches or hitches or escapes........

I can CHOOSE the window I look out of- I choose the one that shows me how to honor and appreciate my body. I see the lines, the wrinkles, the texture, the imbalances and I think about all I have done in this life, with this body. I created 2 human beings, 2 healthy, beautiful, smart human beings who are also incredibly kind, gentle, fair, loyal, honest, true to themselves, independent, self sufficient and willing to continuously learn life lessons and seek peace and happiness, joy and love. 
And I can look in my eyes and see my own light and my soul full of love, compassion, tolerance and acceptance for being a person who listens to her inner voice and lives in Gratitude. Thank you to my Divine Spirit who guides me and shows me the miracles every day. 

Wow! I looked pretty dang good at that place in time. Why could I not see my own beauty and feel good about myself? Why did I think I was too fat? That I looked old and ugly? How do I see it so differently now? The great thing is that I can measure my growth between the time of the picture and that the only thing that is different now about the picture, is how I see it. I choose to look at it as a measuring stick in my life. If I were to think anything negative about it, it would just be a little sadness that I couldn't see myself then as I do now and that too much time in my life has been spent wishing I was different- and I was unable to enjoy the experience in the moment. For some reason the word MINDFUL doesn't vibe in a positive way for me. I don't know why. But I do understand the concept or idea of it and I agree wholeheartedly that I want to be in my life experiences WHILE I'm having them. 

So I'm thinking, change is wonderful, fun, exciting and part of my daily life. And maybe for today, I can do my best to roll with it and be as present as I'm capable of. And if today I want to look different, it's ok to throw on a ball cap or even a wig, dress differently than I usually do or even color & cut my hair..... whatever I want to do to feel good about myself. Not because I want to be different than the girl in the mirror, but because I want to honor and celebrate her. Lets celebrate the girl in the mirror, now. Today, tomorrow, always! If this has touched you and you would like to comment, please email me @ info@sweet-midlife-bliss.

Looking back, almost all the changes I made in my appearance were for fun. Some of the earlier pictures were while I was healing from a difficult break up and life change, trying to figure out "now what?"

💕All I can see in this moment is how pretty I was in these photo sessions when I bravely photo-logged how I wanted to represent my spirit visually, in the physical sense. With hair, makeup & fashion. These are all pictures that tie me to memories that in most cases, make me smile. I honestly can say I dont give much thought to how I compare to myself in past chapters. I'm not better or worse now, I'm just different than I was then.  I can also honestly say I am happier now than I've ever been. More balanced and at peace in my heart & soul. This life is more than I could have ever dreamt of.

In fact, those are 2 things my dear friend told me 20 years ago, when 1 year sober- when I moved into her basement for 6-8 months. I was sitting on my bed in my new room, crying about the end of a chapter and wondering if I'd done the right thing and she said " All I can tell ya is it's gonna get different, then it's gonna get different again." And whe something didn't go as I thought it should and my oversensitive feelings were hurt, she would say " God has something infinitely better planned for you.  something better than you could ever dream of 💕

Thank you so much for your words from your heart and soul Sharon. I will always Cherish & Treasure all of the little bits of love, understanding and acceptance & truth you gave to me.

Happy May!! Wow almost 1/2 way thru the year! It seemed to pass so quickly. Many changes in life last Month. My little love of the moment graduated to FT daycare. I started and finished a new assignment- after a 3week trial period, it was decided that it wasn't a good fit.  Now I'm floating in 1 job land -and excited about the future! I have a trip to AZ the end of May & I'm beside myself excited to go see my AZ family. For me, summer is a time of magic! The days are longer, more outside sunny time, outdoor gatherings, the beach! It's a wonderful time of life, to surround yourself with those you love cherish and adore, a time for lightness of heart, a time to make bright shiny memories. I wish you abundance and the strength to make your dreams come true. Stay positive, keep your vibe up, be love at every opportunity- your heart will Soar! 

April 8, 2024

We had a complete Full Solar Eclipse. It was televised back in the Mideast, but we couldn't see anything here. There were many people who gathered for the big event in small towns where people shared their excitement and the experience. Over the television, the news reporters's voice quivered the whole time she was talking. I can only imagine the vibration of everyone's energy flowing through the crowd.........and the eclipse itself, it was pretty incredible, even just seeing it on tv and pictures on the internet was some what breathtaking💜💕