Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary!
Changing the Paradigm for Women in the Second Half of Life.
June,2013
WOW! WISE OLDER WOMEN!®
by Glenda Bradley (2001)
We are wise older women, we have learned many things.
We are wise older women,
we can cope with what life brings.
We are wise older women, we are smart and we are strong.
We are wiseolder women, life won’t keep us down for long.
We are wise older women, we can be tender - we can be tough.
We are wise older women, we keep going when times get rough.
We are wise older women, and we know what we don’t need
.We are wise older women, all you people best take heed.
CHORUS:
We say what we think. We feel what we feel.
We know what is fake and we know what is real.
We are wise older women, and we are a special breed.
~~~~
AUTHENTIC, JOYOUS AND FREE
WOW! Wise Older Women! has had a presence on the internet for twelve years.
Newsletters or the notice one is available have been coming to your inbox for twelve
years. TWELVE years--amazing! At first, they came once a month--lately much less
often.
WOW! Wise Older Women! has also done retreats, cruises, trips and many meetings.
We’ve had lots of fun. We’ve made lasting friendships. We’ve seen the wisdom that
comes from growing older. And, even with the inevitable changes, we are grateful--more than ever--to be older women.
You may remember life for me changed dramatically about seven years ago. Those
changes put much of my attention away from the WOW! newsletters to other things--like working again. I kept thinking the energy for WOW! would come back and it has, but in a different way. Instead of passing on my wisdom, I want to read about and know your wisdom.
My goal for this time in my life is to be more authentic, experience more joy and stay
free to be in the present moment, not concerned with any drama or to-do lists. So with
gratefulness for all that has been and will continue to be because of our former WOW!
Wise Older Women! newsletter connections, I write this last newsletter.
You can imagine writing the last one has brought lots of memories. Want to remember
with me? When the first newsletter hit your inbox in January, 2001, where were you
living and what were you doing? How were you spending your time? What in your life
did you want more of? Less of? What celebrations have you had since then? What
losses have you experienced? What’s changed for you in the last twelve years?
Now that I’ve got you thinking, I have another request. Would you get your answers (some or all) together and email them to me? I’d love to know about your memories during
these twelve years. If it’s okay with you, I’ll share them with other wise women; if not,
just say so and I’ll be the only one who reads them..
You know I never ask you to share what I’m unwilling to share, so I’ll begin.
Twelve years ago I was very, very, very, very, very busy. Fanny Fern’s quote sums up
my story. “I am convinced,” she says, “that there are times in everybody’s experience
when there is so much to be done that the only way to do it is to sit down and do
nothing.” Recently, I had spine surgery which slowed me down dramatically--and guess
what? I found out I like the slow pace. I’m simplifying and deleting and choosing space
in my days. I spend a considerable amount of time sitting, sometimes doing nothing,
sometimes watching my Spurs basketball team play, but mostly reading. While I
continue to read for my own spiritual and personal growth, mostly I just read for fun.
Twelve years ago, I was immersed in the lives of my four grandchildren and loving it.
Today they are all teenagers (two graduated from high school this year and are off to
college) and I am lucky if I get to see them “do their thing.” Communication is mostly
limited to quick texts.
Twelve years ago, I was married and living in a big house on the lake. Both the
marriage and the house required lots of effort. Today, I live with my two eleven year-old dogs in an 850 square-foot condo. I am happy to report neither the dogs or the condo require much of me.
Twelve years ago, I loved doing the newsletter, leading retreats and monthly WOW!
meetings. Now, I have little, if any, need to project or define my identity with those
activities. Whatever I doing or not doing right now is okay and enough. I am more
interested in visiting with you and hearing your stories than planning or leading or
getting ready for anything.
Twelve years ago, I was sure I could push rivers uphill if I just tried hard enough.
Maybe I had brief periods when I relaxed enough to go with the flow, but soon enough I felt uncomfortable and starting pushing again. Today, I’ve learned to let go nad be
comfortable with the way things are. I believe I’ve learned not to push--anything.
Twelve years ago, doing retreats, traveling, having lots of family and friends over for fun ,taking the grandkids on trips or to SeaWorld was great fun. I’m grateful for those times ,but change has deleted my energy--lots of it. Today I am doing less, but feeling more joyous--and more grateful--than ever.
Twelve years ago, I had not experienced, or learned the big lessons, of the death of a
dear friend. Today, I no longer take my friends for granted, I make sure I am in touch
regularly and am more grateful for them than ever.
Traveling through these years of the second half of life with you has added to my
wisdom and my joy. I am grateful for each of you. I hope to hear from you from time to time. (When wiseolderwomen.com doesn’t work anymore, use
wownancy@gmail.com.) It’s hard to say goodbye--I feel sad, so through my tears,
I’ll close this last newsletter with this blessing for us all:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.”
Romans 15:15
~~~~
Wise Older Women! Quotes:
As with all things, there is a time of dormancy, a time of germination, a time of fruition and harvest. We must be patient with these things in our hearr. We must developpatience and an open mind---a very open mind.
Julia Cameron
How surely gravity’s law, strong as an ocean current, takes hold of even the smallest
thing and pulls it toward the heart of the world. . . . That is what the things can teach us: to fall, patiently to trust our heavisness.
Rainer Maria Rilke
~~~~
Guess who is 73?
WOW! Wise Older Women!®
We do not share information about you with anyone. Ever.
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