The JOY of Aging......Really!!

Like millions of people on Friday, I too braved the stores for "Black Friday"......yet instead of discovering the perfect gift for a loved one, I discovered something about myself!!

While visiting with relatives for Thanksgiving, my sister and I decided to see what we could find in the stores on Friday. As neither of us had our "lists" or any real desire for particular items, it was more of an opportunity to spend some time together than it was to get some "real deals" for the holidays.

We headed out to the local stores and wandered......literally wandered through the stores looking at the piles and mountains of products and the throngs of people clamoring for the items that were "one day sale specials". Not having participated on the Black Friday Frenzy for years, I was amazed. It reminded me of a sad remake of the movie "Night of the Living Dead"..........people wandering, as if in a daze..........tired, cranky, moving from store to store......simply with the goal of filling their carts. I'm certain many of these people simply wanted to be at home enjoying a well-deserved and long-overdue day off with their families, eating left-over turkey and stuffing, yet here they were......

While it amazed me at how the stores had all geared up for this day so far in advance, how the buying public was participating in the hoopla, and of course at the sheer volume of things to be purchased, I was amazed at something else.....something inside of me.

I felt so removed from the process of it all......I had no desire to purchase anything! My thoughts wandered to some of the decorations and how I wanted to create a special holiday atmosphere and mood in our home, but I wasn't processing what items the kids or I "needed" to be happy this holiday season. My wish list became populated by other things that morning. Here are the first several items:

1. Time to make holiday cookies with the kids
2. Remember to get that family recipe for my grandmother's applesauce cake
3. Find the kids' favorite holiday music CD that got put away with last year's decorations....the one they knew all the words to so we could sing along
4. Cut the construction paper so we could make paper chains for the tree
5. Clear the afternoon after-school schedule so we could go ice-skating
6. Stop by the library for a stock-pile of holiday stories to read in front of the fireplace

My list grew as I wandered along. The true JOY of the holidays for me was not to be about finding the perfect gift. My list didn't cost much money either! My list was about making the TIME with those who are most important to me in my life......it was about making MEMORIES of an unhurried holiday season.......it was about creating TRADITIONS for my children that hopefully would carry over to their adulthood and they would not become one of the wandering zombies at the mall on Black Friday!

I see this as a true joy of aging.....sure I have a few more aches and pains with each passing year.....but I also have a greater sense of the real me and what is important in my life! I'm embracing the wisdom that the aging process brings! Realizing what is truly important is a joy of aging!! I have the courage, wisdom and capability to make the holiday season what I WANT it to be......not what I've been told it should be!

What is it you wish your holiday season to be? What is important to you? What brings you JOY?

Glenna Sanford
Speaker / Author / LifePower Coach
glenna@glennasanford.com

Red Shoes in the Workplace....it's a Revolution!

I had to chuckle as I was looking through this morning's paper's sales flyers......either it's the time of year or the stores are catching on......RED SHOES are everywhere!! Trying to take a "scientific" approach, I placed every flyer in the Sunday paper around me on the table to see how many stores had red shoes or boots in their advertisements and how many did not. It was amazing....every single flyer had at least one pair of red shoes in it!! Perhaps the revolution is beginning!! Women are starting to request red shoes and the marketplace is responding!!

I have started receiving emails from women at work sharing their red shoe stories with me....fabulous!! I'm getting emails from men asking where to get their wives or girlfriends a pair of red shoes........wonderful! I'm seeing women wearing red shoes and boots not just on weekends......but also in the workplace! Fantastic!!

A woman wearing a pair of red shoes makes a statement! My red shoes are my exclamation point.......they simply make me feel GOOD! I have witnessed the transformation of women in the workplace as they walk into meetings more confident, composed, and ready to voice their opinions and ideas! Watch out corporate America.....women in the workplace have started launching a revolution.....the revolution of the red shoes!

It's curious to me how simply changing the color of the shoes on our feet can make such a change in our confidence, composure and attitude. Imagine the power we have available by making other changes in our lives. Imagine the empowerment of believing in ourselves and making the choices and changes that we've been putting off for so long! What's stopping you? Recognizing your personal strength is much like a child learning to walk.....once you recognize it, you want more . Once you practice it, you can't be stopped! Greater confidence and power builds with each use of your personal power and strength! Use it! Practice it! Grow with it!

What changes in your life could you start making today that would reinforce YOU? Do you need a pair of red shoes in your life? They're available everywhere!

Glenna Sanford
glenna@glennasanford.com
Author / Speaker / LifePower Coach

Are You a Morning Person? A Night Person?...How About Becoming an EVERY DAY Person!

An interesting conversation I had on the plane……

It was an early flight….even too early for ME who is a definite "morning" person. I typically rise each day by 5AM. Today however, I needed to catch a flight that left the ground at 5:15AM….hmmmm…..what to do? The only solution possible was to set the alarm clock for an unheard of hour of 3AM. I actually worried the clock wouldn’t work to go off at that time! Three o’clock in the morning? Ugh!

The airport was crowded…..full to the brim of cranky individuals waiting for their luggage to be screened. My thought was that not many of these folks in line with droopy eyes and hair awry were true “morning” people. Not many personal greetings were being shared as folks stared at their boarding passes, double and triple checking that they were at the correct gate….after all…..it was early!

The flight departed and arrived safely at the next airport where again more non-morning people were grumbling and grousing as they endured the shuffle from one gate to the other……

On to the next plane….and into an interesting conversation. It came out in conversing with my seat mate that I was a morning person and he was an evening person. Then the question evolved…..are there “day persons”? Hmmmmm…….

If a large percentage of our population is more oriented to their productivity during the morning hours and the remaining percentage is more oriented to their productivity during the afternoon and evening hours…what happens to those who are “day” people?

How about the excuse of why people are allowed to be cranky because they are not “morning people” or they are not “night people”……why do we excuse the actions of individuals because they need to interact around their prime “time”? Why do we excuse such behavior……and again, what happens to the “day” person……..when is their allotted time to be cranky?

If we continue to find excuses for our behavior we will continue to perpetuate the behavior. If we move beyond the behavior, we grow. My goal is to move beyond being a “morning person” and becoming an “every-day-all-day person”…..to grow to appreciate the wonders and joys around us every day…..ALL day. If we are ultimately able to see the joys around us, we ultimately will share the joys around us with others……..and won’t that make the world a better place?

I think my seat mate was on to something…..where are the “day people”……I think we could all be “day people”…..EVERY day people! Start today! Don’t wait until tomorrow…find your personal joy today. Share your joy with others….today. Become an “every day person!”

Glenna Griffin Sanford
Author / Speaker / LifePower Coach
Glenna@glennasanford.com