Hearts Broken Again

For a different perspective on tragedy you need to read this post today, such a sad day. 

You're Only As Old As You Feel or You're Fabulous At Every Age?

Today I needed to run 17 miles for my marathon training. It was a very hard 17 miles. We had just gotten over 8 inches of snow and the streets outside are very slippery. That means running inside on the treadmill. To top it off, I have a touch of stomach flu. I can't tell you the number of times I wanted to quit.

While I was running, I was trying to make time go faster by reading O magazine. Interestingly enough, there is a section on "Fabulous at Every Age" spotlighting women of different ages. The last person they chose to spotlight is Ida Keeling. (I had never heard of her before.) She is a 97 year-old sprinter. She broke the US sprinting record for her age group in 2012. She finished the 100 meter dash in just under 52 seconds! She didn't even start running until the age of 67.

This little bit of inspiration was just what I needed to finish out the 17 miles. Some days this body feels so old and I think what the heck am I doing? All of those young people are going to fly right by me at the marathon. Then I think of Ida, sprinting at age 96. I don't know if I'll still be running then but now I know it's possible. And...it's possible to keep this "not so old?" gal still going!

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Such Lovely Words...

I came across a super sweet blog by Hannah Brencher. Her writing is just lovely and inspiring. I have to send you over there to read her post 25 Things Every Woman Needs To Know. You'll nod your head in agreement and smile. Then you'll want to read more of her other posts.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and head on over for a "soul snack"! Then come back and tell us what you think of Hannah's writing.

Wordless Wednesday

Fifty and Fabulous

I had the pleasure of listening to a well-known photographer talk about photographing different demographic groups. It was interesting how she used different posing, lighting and marketing for each group. What I found especially noteworthy was that she said that no one markets to the women over 50 group.

She asked the audience if they could think of any major marketing campaign for us "mature" women. As with the audience, I couldn't think of any. Every once in awhile, I have seen in MORE magazine articles that will list things to wear, or products to try for women in their 20's, 30's,40's,50's and 60's. (I haven't ever seen anything past the 60's. Don't women in their 70's and above want to look good or are able to look good too?)But really no one has a specific marketing campaign for us.

So that got me thinking about my own company. We have baby products, aromatherapy products and general products for men and women.I haven't done any marketing for my own age group even though we have wonderful skin care products for mature skin.(Gathered From The Garden's Facial Serum is just heavenly on mature skin!) I'm going to have to give that some serious thought as to how I can reach the women over 50 group.

How do you feel about this issue? Have you seen any marketing specifically for the over 50 group? Have your mothers or grandmothers ever voiced an opinion on this?

 

Wise Tips for Living

I read about a woman who lived to be 91 and her husband to be 100. Her name was Helen Nearing. She was a great pioneer of simple living. Helen had eleven wonderfully wise tips for living not only a less stressful life, but for living in a more connected and organic way.

Here are some of her tips:
1. Do the best you can, whatever arises.
2. Be at peace with yourself.
3. Find a job you enjoy.
4. Live in simple conditions; housing, food, clothing; get rid of clutter.
5. Contact nature every day; feel the earth under your feet.
6. Take physical exercise through hard work; through gardening or walking.
7. Don’t worry; live one day at a time.
8. Share something every day with someone else; if you live alone, write someone; give something away; help someone else somehow.
9. Take time to wonder at life and the world; see some humor in life where you can.
10. Observe the one life in all things.
11. Be kind to the creatures.

What a truly wise blueprint for living! I know that I need to get rid of clutter--in my home and even in my mind sometimes! I think if you nurture plants and animals you can't help but nurture humans too. The one that hit me the most was to share something with someone else every day. I thought that would be really easy but when I started to work on it--sometimes I had to really think about what I wanted to give and to whom. I should have just started with something easy like a smile but I wanted it to be a little more meaningful for me and the person I was sharing with. I am going to try to add more of these tips to my life.

Something you could share with someone else is any one of our Gathered From The Garden products. They are bound to put a smile on your special someone's face. Check out our website.

Which of these tips is your favorite?

Wordless Wednesday