Blog

Sara's musings about how to age happier

Blessings of this Pandemic

I had just spent an hour whining to my friend Barbara about how blah I felt with each additional day of isolation in this pandemic.  I am an extrovert.  My husband is an introvert.  Some days he doesn't talk to me unless I beg him to. However, after a brisk walk...

The Things I Believe In This Thanksgiving

I believe in music, its power to spark many emotions, its abstract beauty, sometimes the words that go with the melody, particularly gospel lyrics, show tunes and the swelling voices of a chorale. I believe in nature, its ability to surprise as in a sudden hail storm,...

What I’ve Learned from Old Women

When my oldest (in age) friend, Anna, asked me to explore with her what optimism could mean at the end of life, she was 96 and very close to her own end. She knew it. I admired my friend and wanted to emulate her courage, strength, and great curiosity about other...

Keep Doing the Things that Bring You Joy

Keep Doing the Things that Bring You Joy

I want to travel as long as I can, see as much of the world as I can, experience the tastes, the smells, the colors, and the people in as many places as I can. India is a place I never expected to visit because my husband said it was the last place in the world he...

Six Keys to a Happier Older Adulthood

Six Keys to a Happier Older Adulthood

I’ve been living an older life for 11–16 years depending on where you think “older” begins. I am 76. My dearest friend and mentor, still vital and glamorous at 95, would ask me what I thought vitality looked like for us and our contemporaries, and what it would look...

Sheltered in Place

Sheltered in Place

I was so proud of myself yesterday and earlier this week when I was calm and peaceful about life suspension, when I was baking bread every day and cooking nourishing dinners every night. I've walked four or more miles several times in the last seven days. When I asked...

In Sickness and in Health

In Sickness and in Health

I've recently come through a fairly long period of illness. It started while I was traveling and began with a bad cold (no I'm not writing about the coronavirus). I bought medication from a pharmacist in the country in which I was traveling. While I recognized the...

It’s the Holiday Season

It’s the Holiday Season

“….. And Santa Claus has got a toy For every good girl and good little boy Santa's a great big bundle of joy When he's coming down the chimney, down”   2018 Thanksgiving is blessedly over.  This year was a tough one.  Our blended family split in two as my...

Allow Yourself Time and Patience

Allow Yourself Time and Patience

When I told my primary physician that I was retiring from full-time teaching at 70+ she looked horrified.  "But what will you do?" she asked.  As I had spent my adult life variously as non-profit manager, retail stockbroker, corporate sales trainer and then corporate...

Inventory of Three Areas Pre-Retirement

Inventory of Three Areas Pre-Retirement

I have suggested that you take inventory in three areas of your current life.  Write down what you want to continue, what you never want to do again, and what you want to start in the next phase of your life. If you're working now, what is it about this part of your...