Category: life skills

Change, creativity and play. Three of my favourite states, which are also my current favourite words, hover on my horizon. For this, I’m truly grateful. My eighty-seventh year seems full of promise, and not at all like the gloom I dreaded just before my birthday a few weeks ago. Miserable, bored and fearful about what…… Continue reading More change creativity and play

Procrastinate seemed to be my new second name. For weeks or maybe months I sat in a heap with stuff to do piled around me. The longer I postponed tasks the more painful my feelings. A physical sensation like suffocation grew behind my sternum. It wasn’t just my creativity that was blocked, but the whole…… Continue reading Procrastinate postpone delay – or just do it!

A week ago, or perhaps even as late as Friday, I dreaded being 86. And then, suddenly it happened, and the world didn’t fall off its axis. In fact, the day itself was mildly celebrationary and very pleasant. A hot day in early November, a gathering of people who love me, and messages from friends…… Continue reading Nothing dreadful about being 86

The ability to manage change is an essential skill. Change, like death and taxes, pursues us throughout our lives. Jennifer Katzenstein says, ‘A life transition is any major life event that alters our sense of self, our purpose, and how we go from day-to-day’. Nothing stays static. We move houses, change jobs, marry and divorce,…… Continue reading Seven ways to manage change and transitions

The old age memo, the one that debunked the myth that ageing brings with it only peace and contentment, seems to have missed my in-box. My image of life in a rocking chair with nothing to do has been shattered. The memo seems to have gone the way of the one which debunked the idea…… Continue reading The old age memo that missed me

Awe – the emotion we experience as reverential respect – always includes wonder. It sometimes, also, includes an element of fear. We feel awe when we encounter something which, often larger than ourselves, challenges our understanding of the world. Experiences of wonder and awe take us outside ourselves and into a different realm. They are…… Continue reading Seven ways to cultivate awe

Resilience, the ‘capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficult experiences’, is both an art and skill. Resilience refers to the ability to successfully adapt to stressors. It includes maintaining psychological well-being in the face of adversity and recovering afterwards. Because it involves behaviours thoughts and actions, everyone can learn and practise it. The more…… Continue reading Resilience, the art and skill