I find my 50’s fascinating. I have moved to TWO 55 and older communities (to be clear - Husband is over 55 :P ) and it’s been a great way to stop, pause and reflect on what I want our older age to look like. We have a larger community in Florida of over 600 people and our smaller place in the foothills in North Georgia is about 150 people 

Our communities reflect people all the way up to 100+ in age. It’s a cross section of society, of health and disease in action and the aging process in general. It has been a great way for us to see what we want in our older age. We see the people who are running around the park. We also see the people that are relegated to walkers and golf carts. 

It’s easy to recognize that most of us spend years conforming to our society’s Standard American Diet. We have also followed the work ethics in America. What I think a lot of us realized is that being a standard American doesn’t work for us. We don’t want to have a standard American life. We want a richer, fuller middle age not marred by constant doctors visits, medications and inactivity.

Most women, when asked, say each decade their life gets better and better. That is different from what we are told by news, magazines, advertising and consumable companies. This tells me that we are so much more dynamic than we are given credit for. We want more in our older age, we want to slow time down so we can do the things we want to do. We want the experiences, the heartfelt moments, the big feels. 

Maybe we also have dreams that we put on the backburner? Perhaps you were on track to do something and life got in the way? Your 50’s are a great time to check in with yourself and get back to that dream. This is the time to take that pause, pick up that paper and start journaling to see patterns. Maybe grabbing a therapist and finally feeling those feels, finding your way to the most excellent parts of you. 

We all have bucket list items we want to do. What have you put on the back burner? What did a job, kids, house, caretaking put on the back burner for you? 

Do you want to hike the Camino de Santiago? So what do you have to do to make that a reality? Take any idea, goal, promise or purpose and start talking to friends and family about it. The Universe needs to hear that you want to do this. Start digging deep into blog posts, videos, travelogues and Google your way to make some plans. Figure out how much time you need, how much money, gear, etc. What about your health? Do you need to start moving more and training for such an event? Maybe you want to start a charity, fund a scholarship, move to a new city - whatever it is - start talking about it. 

I read a book many years ago that made me take notice. It’s called Younger Next Year.  The subsequent books were meh, but this one was great. It made me think of things a little differently. Here;s a way to put that bucket list though the hopper.  Here are a few questions you can ask yourself: 

1. What’s on your mind? What do you REALLY want do? 

2. What’s the real challenge here for you? 

3. Why is this so important?

4. If you say yes to this, what are you saying no to?

5. What is going to be the most valuable take away for you here? 

Put your big bucket list item through this question tree, Chances are you are looking for something a little different than you might have first thought. Dig on into those feelings and thoughts. Maybe something on a smaller scale will scratch that itch? Maybe once you start those plans they get bigger! It’s all good, the important part is to do something FOR YOURSELF that will feed your soul. Something that makes you take stock of your health - mental and physical to challenge yourself. Do something that moves the needle and makes you healthier. 

Fill your soul.