If I said the words ‘rebellious wisdom’ to you, what would come to mind?
As soon as I heard those words they impacted me firstly with feminine energy. Sorry guys, but there’s nothing masculine about it. This is a girl thing. I know it’ll mean different things and have a different vibration to the reader depending on where you’re at in your life. To me they speak to the sacred strong, ‘out there’ woman who has experienced a lot of what life has thrown at her, refuses to give into any conditions, controls or norms but has come out stronger, wiser and more visible with an aura of ‘time to be truly myself and be darned if I’ll conform to another’s expectation’ kind of vibe.
Does anyone come to mind when you think of those words? To me it’s women like Lisa Wilkinson, Julie Bishop, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Verend Mercer, Hilary Clinton, Christiane Northrup (check out her latest book about this subject)
and of course Helen Mirren and Tina Turner – ageless not only with how they’ve cared for their bodies but their complete attitude and defiance of the norm or other people’s expectations. Every one of the women I’ve just quoted have their own story of struggle, survival and success.
Now I hear you all saying ‘what about this one, that one, someone more worthy, someone not so ‘Hollywood’, someone who does great charity work, someone who’s gone through hell and back, why should you pick women who would have their own stylist, makeup artist and private chef, private trainer ….. etc’. I know – there’s plenty out there when we get thinking. So many more worthy of mention. Trust me, I’m a trained makeup artist and stylist who has respect for moving my body, honouring it with good food and breathing – it’s not rocket science, it’s an easily learned skill so we can’t fall back on that as an excuse. And I’m hearing the opinions already – bare with me, I’m about to make a point.
For the sake of bringing commonly known faces to mind so that most of us know who I’m talking about, these are the immediate personalities that I felt you’d all know. I could mention some brilliant personal friends of mine or some obscure women who remain behind the scenes who sit right in this category – you wouldn’t know them – so what’s the point. I’m bringing these women up as an example.
It’s more than just the outer veneer – but that helps.
Besides the immediate outer image, which admittedly says confidence with an ‘I don’t care what you think’ vibe, I believe there’s a ‘rebellious wisdom’ about each one of them. They’re strong with what they stand for, they’ve defied the common ‘ageist’ expectations that are rife among women no matter if you’re a Hollywood actress, business owner, corporate woman smashing her head against the glass ceiling, or a mum who looks in the mirror and looks back at her own mother. Not that that’s a bad thing for some.
They’ve refused to take on the typical beliefs and expectations of the woman facing her second half of life and if anything are stepping into their natural selves and thumbing their noses at the world and all of its opinions on social media, TV, magazines and blog sites. And they’re doing great things. Some are more visible than others and that’s ok.
Should this be of concern to you? Should you even care? I think you should and here’s why.
If you’re a 40 or 50 + (and even if you’re not) reading this right now – know that you have so much in you that’s not even come to the surface yet. Your greatness hasn’t yet surfaced. You 30 somethings think you’re doing awesome work? Good for you! Just wait! It’s only just begun.
There’s wisdom and power beyond measure in the older woman that only emerges when she’s realised she has life’s experiences, heartbreaks, triumphs, lessons learned, pain and memories behind her.
Remember that piece written by Marianne Williamson? If you’ve not read it – hook into it here.
How do we get a little ‘rebellious wisdom’?
I think today’s 40 and 50+ women are ageing completely differently to their mothers and grandmothers. Even though we’re faced with a much more toxic environment than 50 years ago we have so much more option and choice available to us to travel this path of ageing and head toward the twilight of our years and still be purposeful educators, leaders, motivators and speakers with mountains of wisdom to share. And why should we not be strong, fit, wear our wrinkles with pride, be disease free, be able to move with ease and freedom, earn a decent income and share our wisdom with those who’d care to listen?
My story. Tough stuff and lessons.
I spent too many years being the good girl, being told what to do and how to do it. That’s how a lot of young girls were raised in the 60’s and 70’s. And I accepted it as the norm and didn’t argue. Around the age of 19 I moved into a corporate role and stayed there for the next 25 years, where I, as a young impressionable woman and single parent, was feeling very dominated while watching the older women in the office being afraid to speak up. I watched them ‘putting up’ with their lot and going through stress related issues. It would make me angry to see this right throughout the workforce and I knew then I was called to work with women to help them to feel better about themselves and give them the tools to step up their self esteem, their health and their personal vitality.
It’s one thing to learn assertiveness skills – it’s another to have a sense of health, vitality and deal with stress.
Because when you’re standing in that space, you’re capable of taking so much more control of your life.
Later I tried a few years in a fashion business feeling like I need to be quietly invisible and simply follow the rules. I even worked as a Personal Stylist for years. I loved working with women boosting their self esteem around teaching them about colour and style. But underneath a lot of that outer veneer work, were health issues that needed more attention than their fashion, makeup and colour. I soon noticed that I started developing health issues too. After a few years of dealing with varying symptoms and preferring not to be ‘told’ what to do by ‘well meaning but overworked’ GPs, it all came to a crashing head and I decided to get a bit rebellious and I wised up. I’ve now taken my health, stress levels, my life and my business into my own hands and I’m looking for a few people who might like to work with me. I know rebellion is not something all of you align with – but for those of you who are fist pumping right now saying ‘tell it sista’ this post is for you.
I don’t want to see women being stepped on, falling into the expected ‘pit’ of the ageing process, receiving unwanted diagnoses, watching their bodies give in on them, seeing their gorgeous muscles fade away, surviving on minimal wage, watching their core strength disappear and succumbing to anti depressants and thinking this is their lot. There’s a way out. I want to see you step into your greatness, be the strong, vital woman you are, be happy with what you see look back at you in the mirror and embrace what you’ve been sent here to do. You can only do that when you’re healthy and feeling good about yourself.
So here’s my ‘how to become a rebellious wisdom advocate’ checklist:
- Check your beliefs about ageing at the door. What you expect will manifest. Your mind and attitude are all powerful and your cells will listen.
- There is no reason to think you’ll ‘age’ in the typical sense. We can move into a stronger, fitter, younger looking, more assertive, healthier second half life. In fact you can look better as a 50 or 60 something than you ever imagined. Don’t believe me? Go pick yourself up any book by Dr Christiane Northrup, Dr Karen Wolfe, Dr Oz, Dr Mercola, Dr Libby Weaver. Listen to podcasts of some of the latest nutrition gurus out there. The messages about ageing in a whole new way are thick and strong.
- Change up your habits with what you eat, drink, absorb,excrete and say to yourself.
- Sweat! Start moving your body – there’s only two directions at this age, and it’s growth or decay. I choose grow! I started to notice the decay in myself for a while there, got freaked out by it and decided to switch it. I’ve seen decay in women around me who can’t shake off the ageist beliefs. It’s sad – they’re amazing women who have given up and are now in possession of a toneless, diseased, tired lethargic body which to me, is mistreating the gift you’ve been given. My 83 year old mum who’s mind is still brilliant refuses to move, walk, do any kind of exercise or even listen about diet. I watch her getting larger, rounder, more puffed out, losing her balance, terrified of escalators for fear she’ll fall straight off them and more frightened of every step. There’s no way she could get up off the floor should she find herself on it – that is SUCH a worry.
- Yes, I can also hear you out there ‘ oh but I have this condition, and that illness, I can’t move, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t- you can start’. It starts within the mind and it starts with one step. So find something your body likes to do, can do, is willing to do, and make yourself do it regularly, put some grunt into it and start sweating. Is it dancing? walking? jumping on a rebounder? playing with the grandkids? Want some inspiration – head to the page of famous Diamond Dallas Page – there’s some inspirational stories of change and saving of lives all through yoga.
- Detoxify your body and your thoughts – toxicity shows up in our relationships, our body, turns up in our HAIR (yes, our hair), on our skin, swirls around our mind, clouds our eyes and comes out of our mouth. It can work like a nasty nuclear reactive regurgitation all over everyone around us and we’re soaking in it. Everyone – no matter how healthy you think you are – needs to take a look at a little detoxing from time to time.
Get a little rebellious and get out of a situation that’s damaging you. Step up into your true self.
Here’s a thought:
Why is it that most older women will say to me it’s their core strength that seems to be the first thing that goes? Giving too much right from the core? Too much focus on everyone else around you rather than yourself and one day you wake up and see your entire core strength – your gut, your essence – has been depleted?
That was me! I’ve been healthy, I’ve been not so healthy – believe me, healthy is better.
People treat you differently, you can do stuff, you enjoy life more, your quality of relationships is so much better, you’re productive, you’re purposeful, you can help so many more people than you ever can when your health has depleted or you’ve given into ageist beliefs. When you’re unhealthy – it’s the lack of health that is the main focus. All our body wants to do is survive and so it becomes our primary thought pattern. Your life gets tied up in the next symptom, blood test, doctors visit, reason why you can’t do what you dream of doing. I needed to change all that when it was starting to happen to me.
Before: Tired, overweight, one constant hot flush, looking down the barrel of diabetes, can’t sleep, no self esteem, nothing fits, no energy whatsoever, sallow skin, totally fed up with myself – do I need to go on?
After: 10 years later, yoga instructor, 2 dress sizes down, way more energy, looking a lot younger, can do way more, can’t quite stand on my head, but working on it, healthier skin, people respond differently now. No more diabetes concern, totally healthy. Took the time to learn.
Rebellious Wisdom in business
Let’s face it, women are still striving for equal pay, equal opportunity, recognition, self confidence. One key factor that will influence decision makers and garner respect is seeing a sense of self in a female employee or business owner. The woman who stands up in her health, walks in her power with a fit, strong body and clear focussed mind holds more sway than she realises. I can guarantee you the majority of female CEO’s in today’s world might be busy, but they’ll make time for their health, stress levels and mindset. They’ve learned that they have to to survive. Be the CEO of your own life and business, and think about your health maintenance routine.
Would you like make your second half of life brilliant?
Do you think it’s even possible? Would you like to simply have a chat about it? I’ve gone through my own recovery, transformation and come out the other end a little more determined than when I started. And right now I’m determined to walk my talk. I’ve not reached the pinnacle, I’m still journeying but I’m determined to walk my talk til there’s no more walk in me. And I want to share ALL this stuff that I’ve learned, tested and proven with you!! It’s doable, affordable and delivers results.
I offer a program that’s worth chatting about. Here’s what it covers:
- Mindset, midlife symptoms and menopause
- Movement that’s right for you
- What you eat and how to age backwards
- Self image
- Getting rid of inflammation first so that weight falls off.
- Tools to age backwards
- Projecting a stronger, fitter, healthier image in business.
Here’s what you need to do next:
Call me on 0417761998 or email on annen@tpg.com.au and let’s have a totally obligation free strategy call or skype. Let’s work out what works for you.
Talk soon.
Anne
