On well being…
Today I went to the grocery store and while I was in the checkout line a magazine caught my eye. It was a Yoga Magazine. Across the front in great big bright blue bold letters was THE POWER OF WELL BEING. I think a lot about well-being. So, I casually tossed the magazine in my cart right on top of the ice cream sandwiches and half and half and sparkly water. Hard to explain how a real printed magazine can make you feel sometimes. It’s so much more intimate than just surfing down the strange rabbit holes of the internet. It calms me to read from a real magazine. And lately my body and heart have been seeking calm and comfort.
I suppose that seeking of calm and comfort also explains the ice cream sandwiches. (smiling)
As I was reading the first article in the magazine there was a suggestion at the end of it to write your PRESENT self a letter from your FUTURE self. Say from the year 2027. Five years from now.
Hmmmm. In 2027, I will be five years older than 64. You can do that math.
Just the thought of this letter thrilled me a wee little bit if I am being honest. What would my future self actually want to share with my present self?
Isn’t that just so simple and brilliant?
If you operate in the business world there’s lots of talk about three year plans and five year plans. Usually the word STRATEGIC is tossed in somewhere to amp up the pressure. But, I’ve never thought about what my future self might simply want to share with me RIGHT now. After all the big loving and living and dreaming I’ve done in my life, isn’t this a gentler way to think about and set some intentions for what might come next?
There is a quiet and calm urgency to living life in your sixties.
It’s very, very different than the urgency you feel in your twenties and thirties when you’re starting careers and families and finding your voice and purpose.
I write letters to myself often by the way. If you don’t, you really should make a practice of it. It’s so cool because these letters don’t have to make sense to any one but you. They are for your eyes only. There’s something freeing about writing letters to yourself. Sometimes I actually send mine in the mail. It’s a fun surprise to get them a few days later.
So tonight I’m going to eat an ice cream sandwich, take a really long bath and ponder what my 69 year old self (gulp) might have to share with my 64 year old self.
I can’t wait to get started.
And we can all thank a real “hold it in your hands” magazine for that big idea.
By the way, I love you madly. I’m pretty sure my future self would tell you all that. And actually tell ME that.
Isn’t that the essence of well being? To love your people and yourself, really, really well.
