Rebranding Middle Age and Joyful Living: What This Means, Why It Matters.,

A Life in Progress™ : Rebranding Middle Age

I’m firmly in my messy middle season of life and it’s been a season of stretching, stripping away, meeting and befriending my True Self (or finally growing into my True Self). The past 13 years have also invited me deeper and deeper into freedom and joy. Greater freedom is one of the most important gifts of middle age.

I care about Joyful living in every season – even the hardest of them. Choosing to allow joy into our lives amid heartache, struggle, uncertainty, and general life messiness is hard and brave work. I’ve done my share of hard and brave work. This is, of course, why I focus so much on the practice of making peace with messiness to make space for joy in our body and life. I emphasize the practice part. It’s an ongoing commitment and some days are way harder than others.

In this episode I discuss:

• What Rebranding Middle Age Means
• How I define middle age
• What I mean when I talk about joy
• Joyful aging is simply part of joyful living in every season
• I believe joyful aging begins in our 40s, 50s, and 60s
• 2 key things that support joyful aging and joyful living and these are things that we an work on or have a measure of control around
• Letting go of attachment to the past or to our old dreams is essential if we want to thrive forward or live joyfully

Resources:

• Why You Need to Rebrand Middle Age to Live Joyfully: Why You Need To Rebrand Middle Age To Live Joyfully | A Life In Progress
• Join the Brave + Beautiful Community Autumn Session: Join the Brave + Beautiful Community For Midlife Women | A Life In Progress
• Sign up for the Monday morning Hope Map: Sign Up For The Monday Morning Hope Map | A Life In Progress
• Book by Dr. Gladys McGarey: The Well-Lived Life: A 103-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age.
• You'll find my Hope Map Graphic on this page: Befriend Your True Self and (Re)Claim Freedom, Wholeness + JOY (alifeinprogress.ca)
• "There's some evidence to suggest that specialized cognitive behavioral therapy can improve a sense of purpose in life, as well as meaning in life" (I didn't look for studies): Will a purpose-driven life help you live longer? - Harvard Health