Embracing My 50's- The Surprise I wasn't expecting

Today it is my birthday. The last birthday in my 50's. Strange how I used to think 59 was old! Woah, funny

how when you look at that number from behind your eyes, not in front of them, it feels a whole lot

different!

I realise as I reflect on previous decades, they all had a theme, and each one bought it's own gift.

My 20's was about adventure and change - moving to Canada, finding my twin soul, beginning a career in

the fitness industry, getting married, moving back to Australia and the birth of our first child.

My 30's was about foundation and questioning. While adding two more children to our family, it was a

time of learning about myself as a parent. Challenging what I believed it would be, and what it really was.

It is amazing how you are two different people. The one before children and the one after!

My 40's was a whirlwind of teenagers, school, sporting and dancing events, packed lunches, discipline,

homework and exhaustion. Balancing a job, that was really about paying the school fees rather than

developing career. It was also the decade we entered the world of autism - a world I never expected to

live in but became our new normal.

Then came the 50's and honestly I wasn't expecting it to be such a decade of growth and significant

change. People had told me what an intensely personal time of your life it was - I didn't realise just how

much!

In my mid 50's, I left a comfortable job that I really enjoyed and became an author, counsellor and

speaker. There was something that was pulling at my soul back then.

Many times I have questioned my sanity in leaving a role with a guaranteed income, sick leave and

holiday pay! But when it is a calling that comes from your very soul, the question is simply this - "Did I

want to get to the end of my life with the dream still inside me?" The answer came easily.

Then two years ago, we became empty nesters. Suddenly the roles changed yet again. I had spent 30

years of my life raising gorgeous children - but this next period of time is about me!

What do I truly want to do for the next 30 years of my life? Who am I? What is my purpose? What do I

want? What legacy am I going to leave? What choices await me? What changes can I make to the world?

In asking the powerful questions and using Tapping as a way to release any limiting beliefs I had about

my age and my abilities, the answers unfolded.

So I changed careers again. This time moving back to a role I am so exceptionally passionate about. It

fills my heart, my mind and my day with energy, love and joy. It feels like I am home.

What a wonderful period of growth this last nine years have been. What soul searching and

understanding. What a movement to self and an awakening it has been.

As I woke this morning I realised that I am at a time in my life where I get to decide how I am going to live

and experience this last year of my 50's.

What a joy it is to realise that while the number that signifies my birth date gets older... how I view myself,

my body, my life and the opportunities that await me, do not! It is truly a wonderful time of my life.