Jane Mathews - Midlife Manifesto: A Womans Guide to Thriving after Forty

Copyright 2014 by Jane Mathews

First Skyhorse Publishing edition 2016

Australian edition published 2014 by Jane Curry Publishing

All reasonable efforts have been made to contact copyright holders.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover and internal design by Deborah Parry

Jacket design by Rain Saukas

Cover and internal images: Shutterstock and Fotolia

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-0292-9

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-0293-6

Printed in China

For Alex and Kate, who light up my life...

... and for all midlife women.

I stand in awe of our potential.

This is a record of your time. This is your movie. Live out your dreams and fantasies. Whisper questions to the Sphinx at night. Sit for hours at sidewalk cafs and drink with your heroes. Make pilgrimages to Mougins and Abiquiu. Look up and down, believe in the unknown for it is there. Live in many places. Live with flowers and music and books and paintings and sculpture. Keep a record of your time. Learn to read well. Learn to listen and speak well. Know your country, know your world, know your history, know yourself. Take care of yourself mentally and physically. You owe it to yourself. Be good to those around you. And do all of these things with passion. Give all that you can. Remember, life is short and death is long.

Fritz Scholder

T HE bee is a perfect symbol for midlife women. At its most simple, it represents feminine energy; after all, the queens rule the roost. As if thats not enough, throughout history, across many cultures, the bee represents a wealth of relevant virtues including love, wisdom, productivity, prosperity, diligence, spirituality, and community.

For many years people believed that aerodynamically, bees shouldnt be able to fly at all, but they do . Whether technically it is true or not, I like to believe that the bee symbolizes the accomplishment of anything you put your mind to. And what could be more perfect than that?

Contents

Shared experiences of midlife the turning point shifting from automatic to manual outline of the Midlife Manifesto Plan warm up exercises: synchronicity, happiness, observing, trusting your instincts.

Whats your Visceral Vision? why having a clear vision matters ten different approaches to help articulate your vision.

Explore relationships with friends, parents, siblings, and rellies putting marriage under the microscope being a happy midlife divorcee cementing your bond with children your relationship with yourself.

Reframe your thoughts reconnect with your body awaken the senses exercise and foods that punch above their weight for midlifers losing weight the four numbers you should know how to tackle menopause and increase your chances of dodging major illnesses plus more sex!

Develop your own spiritual necklace what we can adopt from major religions of the world a simple guide to meditation reconnecting with nature writing a journal solitude gratitude memories.

The importance of hobbies merging interests and work learn something new six great investments of your time learn by osmosis.

Make it a space you love be inspired clear the decks smudging streamlining cleaning curating telling your story colors flowers surprises souvenirs luxuries finding a sanctuary in your home.

How you portray yourself to the world finding your personal style cull and organize your wardrobe and accessories essential hair and skin the five-minute face.

Articulate your financial goals a ten-step financial blueprint how much is enough for retirement? organize key documents feel confident and in control.

Write your own Midlife Manifesto prepare inspire plan and do monthly/weekly/daily action plan templates living it and breathing it!

How to get the most out of
Midlife Manifesto

W HEN books start with a How to use this book section, my hackles rise. What on earth do they think I am going to do with it? Put my shopping in it? Wash the car with it? Feed it to the dog? So, my apologies. You picked up this book for a reason, and I want to make sure you get the most out of its pages.

I wrote this book because I needed a midlife plan, and I couldnt find a book to show me how to write one. The order of the book is very simple. In the first couple of chapters I look at where we are and where we want to be. The following seven chapters look at different aspects of our livesrelationships, your body, spirituality, interests/work, home, personal style, and financial independence. Each of these chapters is designed to give you inspiration and food for thought to add to your planyour Manifestowhich you write in the final chapter. You may want to tackle one chapter a week, or even gobble it all down over a weekend.