Reinventing Ourselves Archives - Page 7 of 14

Finding Peace in Midlife

by Monique Faison Ross

Nervously, after my adult daughters were already told what was happening, or more accurately, had figured it out on their own, I sat my 19-year-old son down to have “The Talk.” “Mom, what?” he said with growing anxiety. ”Just tell me.” And, so I did: “Leah and I are dating.” (Leah is a woman, of course). With a long deep sigh of relief, I had finally said it.

I stared at him waiting for his reaction and my presumed need to defend my reasons. I was well prepared to explain why at this juncture in my life my relationship with Leah had changed my entire world and would, in turn, change theirs. I wanted to explain that it was not just an overused cliché that spills out of the mouths of many couples but that Leah did, in fact, complete me. […]

Managing, Not Marking Time

by Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D., and Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D.

Do you sometimes feel like time is getting away from you? I make list after list of what I want to accomplish each day – and often get a large chunk completed – but never seem to get everything done. Now that I make my lists on my PDA, it’s easier to just change the date and roll the reminders over to the next day. Yet the sense of satisfaction that I feel when I do finish a project is a great motivator to become more focused so that I can attain more of my goals each day. […]

The Wilderness of Motherhood

by Lora Freeman Williams

A pregnancy test is like a Rorscach: one’s inner world gets tossed back at her in sharp relief. I stared at mine and felt the weight of my childhood and the hope of a different future in a dizzying twist of emotions.

My own mother had become pregnant with me in 1968, when she was single and an as yet undiagnosed schizophrenic. Exhibiting a striking combination of paranoia and common sense, she moved herself and me a few hundred miles away from her dysfunctional relations and embarked on the next 13 years of our life together. […]

When Shift Happens At Midlife

by Lisa Froman

NEVER IN LIFE is there a need to call on the power of grace and humility more than at midlife. As we take measure of our lives, we can find ourselves dismayed, discouraged and disillusioned to find our lives simply no longer fit us. All that we thought we were, no longer makes sense. Suddenly, we don’t fit in our own skin, never mind our own clothes. We look in the mirror and see faces, even bodies, we no longer recognize.

At midlife, many of us begin to feel a shift, or an unearthing, as I like to call it. Our jobs may or may no longer interest us in the same way, our relationships with our spouses or partners may have shifted —for better or worse—or even ended. […]

The Chicken Back Syndrome

by Ann Sheybani

When did we women decide that everyone else should come first? Who proclaimed it our job to guarantee the pleasure of others and settle for whatever crumbs fall off their plates?

I’ve come to call this compulsion the Chicken Back Syndrome: preparing a chicken dinner, encouraging our husbands and children to take the best pieces—the breast, thighs and legs—and insisting that we actually like the chicken back best. Somehow, without question, everyone believes we’re just crazy enough to prefer bones and gristle. After awhile, we even convince ourselves that those tiny scraps of meat buried between the ribs are worth the effort. […]

Becoming a Mother: A Journey of Healing

by Amy Wright Glenn

What does it mean to heal the heart?

Take 9 minutes to learn about my journey to motherhood, a journey of potent and healing love. For me, becoming a mother entailed a true healing from a painful “mother wound.”

May my story inspire you to reflect upon the transformative power of love.

www.anymeeting.com/amywrightglenn/EE54D7898947

Peering Over the Cliff at Midlife (Reflections On Turning 50)

by Jane Samuel

Many times over the past twenty months of caring for my parents I have dwelt on dark thoughts. Thoughts that most my age don’t want to acknowledge, much less linger over, bring out and share around like some bit of news on the latest medical breakthrough for cancer, worn out knees, lost hearing or broken teeth.

Many of my friends, a generation of women who came later in life to motherhood for whatever reasons are too busy running carpool, arranging play-dates or perhaps even changing diapers to probably think like I was. Life is full, life is long, life is good so why peak behind the curtain that separates us from old age, and all that comes with it? […]

Losses and Gifts in Midlife

by Lewis Richmond

Since the 2012 publication of my book Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser, I have been leading workshops and working with groups to explore how to negotiate the path of aging in today’s complex and hyper-busy world. Among baby boomers one of the challenges is being caught in middle between two other generations: children and aging parents. If the children span the ages from young school-age to adult, two generations expand to three!

Recent studies show that 35% of young adults in their 20s still living with parents—with more still relying on their parents for financial and emotional support. In addition, our parents’ generation is living longer than any in history—into their 80s, 90s, and even beyond. […]

The Yin and Yang of Motherhood

by Serena Kirby

I was 43 when I finally became a mother and I’d definitely been looking through rose coloured glasses in regards to how I thought motherhood would be. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom and I would lay down my life for my child. But there were times in the early days of mothering when I asked myself, “What the heck have I done?”

I know now that I’m not alone in this, as many older mothers I spoke to while researching my book expressed surprise at the contradictory emotions that come with being a mom. […]

Introverted Mother

by Denise Naus

Being an introvert and a mother of three seem to be at odds with each other. As an introvert, I tend to crave quiet and ALONE perhaps more than my extroverted human counterparts might. And yet my young children are constantly here…and there…and… everywhere!

This is my fantasy “happy place” in my mind: I am alone in the forest. Alone in the cabin – miles from any civilization. It’s only me and the woodland creatures. The songs of birds, the calls of the wolves, and the occasional growl of a bear. There is no internet. No telephone. But there are books (many books)! There is pen and paper. And God. […]