Deb's Lake Conroe Real Estate & Stuff! : August 2011

Fishhawk Lake Real Estate-Things to Do When Turning Fifty or Sixty!

I love this book called God Never Blinks and the author, Regina Brett has put together short chapters based on articles she wrote for years on life lessons for the the Cleveland Plain Dealer. This morning I opened up to Chapter 36, Growing Old Beats the Alternative. Dying Young Looks Good Only in Movies. She beat cancer after getting it at age 41. So she wrote about turning fifty and made some great suggestions about what to do to stay young.

I am fifty-five, with sixty seemingly just around the corner. So, I decided this can pertain to people turning fifty OR sixty! Here are some of my "things to do" for turning either of those ages.  (Some of the starred ones are Regina's because they were just too good not to share)

• If your parents are still living, write 50/60 reasons why you're glad they had you

 

• *Sprinkle 50/60 pennies around the world to bring others luck
• E-mail 50-60 people and tell them something wonderful about themselves
• Donate 50-60 hours to your favorite charity, or $50-60 dollars (but giving of your time is PRICELESS)
• Tell someone 80 or older why they seem "young" to you

 

(My young friend, 80 yr old Father Rock Sassano)

• Give a genuine compliment to a person you don't know who is at least 80--I guarantee they'll be delighted!
• Keep a bunch of funny cards about being "old" and bring them out now and then to laugh at them
• Watch a Jack LaLanne video--he was very inspiring! (He just died this year at 96) He was called The Father of Fitness
• Eat 50-60 pieces of your favorite candy (maybe spread it out a bit!) Regina suggests M&Ms.
• Think about the one person who has had the most influence on you and how they made you a better person
• Take one of your biggest fears and tackle it (for my fortieth, I bungee jumped off a 118' bridge over the Toodle River because I was very afraid of heights--I'm not now)
• Write about your life's mission in 50-60 words.
• *Drive 50-60 miles on back roads you've never been on before. Don't take a map and don't check your GPS. Let the road lead you.

 

• For your birthday, if someone asks you what you want, tell them what you would give them instead
• Blow up balloons and instead of tying them off, let them go so they whiz around the room.
• Have a pillow fight with some of your grandkids, or even some of your bestfriends!
• Have a "come-as-you-are" party: pick an off-time of the day to call your friends and when they answer, whatever they are wearing at THAT MOMENT is what they have to wear to the party
• Reflect on what you would say to 50-60 people in your life about how you've learned to "stay young"
• Write the first 50-60 pages of that novel that you've always wanted to write!
• *Write down 50-60 wishes for the future--small ones and big ones, wild ones and tame ones--put them in a jar, and don't read them until your next birthday.
• Take a 50-60 minute hike out in nature.

• While out there, see if you can identify 50-60 different sounds and smells. (Better yet, take TWO hikes, and do one timed hike, the other ends after you've identified 50-60 sounds/smells!)
•   Don't wait til you're 50-60 to do these things!  Do it at 35, 40, 19!!!

 

 

 

Gayle Rich-Boxman
Realtor® Vernonia Realty Direct: (503)755-2905
Specializing in Fishhawk Lake Real Estate
"Your Gateway to the Lake!"
http://activerain.com/blogs/gayleatfishhawklake

 

My website: http://www.lakehomesatfishhawk.com/
My blog: http://fishhawklakerealtor.wordpress.com/