midlifejourney.com

Your name is Sarah Palin and you just woke up from a wild dream. You have been picked as the 2008 Republican nominee for Vice President. You’ve got 5 kids, one only 4 months old that you are nursing and the oldest - a private in the US Army is heading for Iraq next month. You are about to live on a bus and in hotel rooms you will never remember for the next 60 days. You are about to enter national media hell… and you just woke up. Only you are not dreaming. This is real.

Some would call you lucky, some unfortunate, some blessed, some would call you cursed. After 44 years on earth, this is where you are. You joined the PTA back in your hometown in Alaska because you wanted to make changes in the school system. Who knew where it would all lead thirteen years later.

Midlife does have it’s surprises.

We don’t often appreciate history as it happens. Last night the Democrats nominated a man for President. Not a big deal… they have done it every 4 years for a hundred years. But this man is black.

45 years ago today (August 28), another black man, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in front of hundreds of thousands of people in Washington, D.C. His “I have a dream…” speech has become a part of our American history. Both men claim roots in Africa. These two are like bookends… and not. Beginnings happened long before and future endings stretch far ahead. But today… is history in the making.

How far we have come. How far we still have to go. I’m going to appreciate the moment as it becomes history.

Just read an article in the latest Good Housekeeping of all things… about MCI… Mild Cognitive Impairment!!! Apparently, we are all prone to get it… forgetting keys, forgetting appointments, forgetting names…. happens to all of us… more to some than others.

The interesting thing… men are more likely to get it as they age. Which is not surprising. All the middle aged men I know are constantly forgetting something, or relying on the women in their lives to remember!

So what to do? According to research, highlighted in the article - exercise on a regular basis really cuts back on the likelihood that MCI will kick in as you age.

So get out there people. Run, walk, kick ass… attack that memory loss potential straight on…. I think that’s the core of the message… or, um… am i forgetting something???

We all need time off.

Time on, actually—when you can pause and reflect on life, what really matters, read those books that have been piling up next to your bed… practice that golf game one more round, write letters to friends… See something new.

Our lives are too crushed and crowded as it is… perhaps the best Time Off is the time unscheduled. Without agenda.

Interesting… being a Bostonian at heart, I carry the burden of puritan guilt passed on to me by those first intrepid settlers in Plymouth, Mass. Relaxation is the playground of the devil, and taking time off—away from the chores and responsibilities of life is asking for trouble. So I compromise. I take the time off… but schedule a variety of worthwhile tasks to accomplish. Whether it is places to visit, or books to read, I make a list and promise myself that I will check each event off as it is achieved. Even my time off is tightly wound.

I think I need a vacation from my time off... either that or move to Los Angeles where the days are long and sunny, and things just get done in their own time. Sounds quite lovely, actually….