Category: Life at 40
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How to be less anxious: Lessons in life from the ski slopes
Coming into Nozawa-Onsen we are confronted by a slope that sets my pulse racing. It’s below the ski lift, and although covered in deep drifts of white snow, it’s as black as they come. Immediately, despite having zero intention of going down a black run, I’m swamped in anxiety about this whole skiing malarky. Before…
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The power of perspective – refocusing on the upside.
Last month it was my dad’s birthday. This is the first time since he passed away (11 years ago) that I haven’t written some sort of a birthday tribute to him. I’ve been wallowing in a funk of negativity that has made it hard to write something meaningful. All around us humanity seems to…
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The times they are a changing…
This week our eldest child graduated from high school. There are still a set of exams to complete, but formal schooling is done and dusted. It is a momentous milestone in the life of any child. But it’s also a pretty huge “WTF??” for us. You don’t really notice time passing. You just notice the…
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The weight of inadequacy…
Inadequacy has a weight. But rescuing oneself from it is a choice I’ve got to remember to make.
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The Joy of Getting Older…
Last month I turned 50. Fifty! A big number. Half a century. Centuries certainly carry some weight in the things to celebrate department. Just ask Steve Smith or anyone who got a letter from the Queen on their 100th birthday. We think of centuries as significant – as if standing the test of time. Maybe…
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The limits of energy
Of late, I’ve been thinking about energy. Not like Einstein of course. Notin an E = MC2 or “holy smoke, look at the price of gas” kind of way. I’m thinking more philosophically about our sense of get up and go. Our inner energy. The thing that fuels motivation and action and seems to be…
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Puzzling through life…
Doing puzzles might seem pointless, but they offer some interesting lessons on puzzling joy out life
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Letting go of my worry-list and hopping off the what-if train…
I’ve always been a worrier. For as long as I remember I’ve worried about what people thought of me, or whether I was liked. I’ve worried about underperforming, and not being good enough. Despite never being misplaced by my parents in the fruit and veg section of the local grocery store, I have a visceral…
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My watch is telling me I’m unproductive. But maybe that’s okay?
My new fitness watch keeps telling me I’m unproductive. It’s hard to not feel insulted, but maybe there is a lesson in the message?
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The problem with resolutions…
I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions. Did you? I’m pretty good at making resolutions. I make them all the time – monthly, weekly, daily. Sometimes even hourly. When I’m making dinner, I resolve not to eat any chocolate afterwards, but the moment Netflix comes on I find I’ve gobbled down half a bar of…
Reflections from Middle Age 