Stress Buster Tip: I’m Turning How Old???

In six short days (or 144 hours) I will be turning 60!  I know; many say 60 is the new 50–I say 60 is 60, because I can count.  After a summer with some age related physical challenges, I find myself with mixed feelings about this birthday. The truth is, I look awesome and for the most part feel healthy.  I have a great life, but still there is this nagging sense of urgency.  Why?  Because I am human (as I admitted to you last newsletter.) This urgency can easily rob me of what I am doing each day.

You might be thinking, “Ellen you teach mindfulness and stress and pain solutions and you are stressed about getting older?”  Yes, and I do teach stress and pain solutions, and I live what I teach.  I never said that we will not have feelings. I never said we will not have fear or urgency.

Even though I realize feelings are not facts, at times mine take me into judgment and fear- but they do not have to take me over.  I do not become my feelings, I just have them. Big difference- and that is the key to living life in the here and now.  You can learn to ride the wave of your feelings, notice them and watch them come and go without getting stuck in them.

Now that I have shared an important pearl of wisdom (after all, I have accumulated a bit in 60 years), I realize it is high time I celebrate myself. It is easy to find what we want to improve upon, but not as easy to focus on how awesome we are.  That is a concept that has taken me time to learn: honoring myself and all that I am.  I am stepping out on a limb with you and listing some of what I am celebrating–there is power in this admission:

• I am a kind person
• I help many people to have a better life
• I have a great sense of humor
• I tell it like it is
• I am generous
• I give love freely
• I am a great mother (Jennifer, Jamie, and Kiddo–I am okay if you affirm this publicly)
• I am an awesome wife (right Robert?)
• I am a great daughter, sibling, and friend
• I am a gifted teacher and speaker
• I am a talented writer
• I have guts
• I am not a particularly good cook, but was smart enough to marry a good cook!
• I have class and style
• I have built and am still building a successful business
• I have great hair
• I have the gift of making others feel at ease
• I am thrilled to be me! 🙂

I decided to make this a birthday tradition, but one time per year is not enough, so I will make this a daily habit. I invite you to do the same. Celebrate all that you are–there are times in life when we need to remember this.  It is the fuel that moves us toward calm living every day.
Happy 60^th Birthday to me–time treat myself to some indulgence!

Suggestions welcomed.

Warm Regards,

Ellen Sichel

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