Sheila Key - 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s. Living It Up in Lifes Second Half

Dipping into this treasure trove of a book makes me want to go back in time so I can leave my forties again. 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s offers so many creative ideas, so much thoughtful information, and so darn much fun, Im sure Id do it more gracefully, healthfully, and happily the second time. Congratulations and thanks to Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer for giving all of us a life-affirming map to follow, no matter what our age.

Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer know that a new decade of life is the beginning, not the end, of something great. With generous helpings of wisdom and wit, 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s is a recipe for joy during what comes next.

New World Library
Novato, California

Copyright 2008 by Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The material in this book is intended for educational purposes only. No expressed or implied guarantee as to the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given nor liability taken. The authors experiences used as examples throughout this book are true, although identifying details such as name and location have been changed in some cases to protect the privacy of others.

Permissions acknowledgments appear on page 282.
Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Key, Sheila.
50 ways to leave your 40s : living it up in lifes second half / Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-57731-545-2 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Middle agePsychological aspects. 2. Middle-aged personsPsychology. 3. Middle-aged personsConduct of life. I. Spencer, Peggy. II. Title. III. Title: Fifty ways to leave your forties.
BF724.6.K49 2008
15 5.6'6dc22 2007049235

First printing, March 2008
ISBN: 978-1-57731-545-2

Printed in the United States on 50% postconsumer-waste recycled paper.

New World Library is a proud member of the Green Press Initiative.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

BODY

MIND

SOUL

SOUL

T ick-tock yall! Hear that? Tick-tock.

Youre thinking of a clock, no doubt, and youre right. For what else is a birthday any birthday if not a measure of the passing time?

But the Big Five-oh? That really is big. Like Welcome-to-Lifes- Second-Half big which is to say, gigantic. Momentous. Pivotal!

Shh, listen! Is it the ticking clock that sounds throughout these pages, or is it your beating heart? Either way, this book grooves to the rhythm. With a title spun from an old Paul Simon hit, and me (a radio DJ from back in the day) calling the tune, Fifty Ways to Leave Your Forties was bound to pound out a jammin beat.

Did I say pound? Oh yeah, this book was also bound to be a chunky little thing, packing that other kind of pound. For your most momentous, pivotal, gigantic Five-oh, Dr. Peg and I wanted merely to give you the world. Id have called down the sun, moon, and stars, too, but Peg, in her doctorly wisdom, prevailed on me to make this a book that people our age could actually lift! So we kept everything short but still packed a lot in. For you, dear reader, all for you!

So. Ready to lift? Who needs barbells to do a few muscle-building reps, when you could just pick up a second copy of Fifty Ways (ostensibly for a friend) and have a chunky little number in both hands. Use em or lose em, as they say. Thats another of the beats sounding throughout this book, and I hardly need to explain why.

We midlifers get pulled in lots of directions. We do and do and do for our kids, our parents, our bosses. Many of us move from one sitting position to another, all day, every day, eating junk or nothing at all. And if ever we do get a little time to ourselves, about the only thing we can manage is to shlump in front of a mind-numbing TV show with a stiff drink in hand. Its no way to live like I need to tell you.

Calling all couch potatoes! This big-oh birthday rolls you right up to a crossroads. You can either start taking better care of yourself, or do you really want to roll? you can resign yourself to the inevitable wheelchair. Sorry if that harshes your mellow, but its the Gods honest truth. Its also the reason Peg and I fitted each of the fifty Ways in the book with one of our Cool Moves. Call them exercises if you must, but I think youll find many of these activities to be like no other exercises youve ever done, especially the ones adapted from Dahn yoga, a holistic wellness program of ancient Korean origin that remains relatively unknown in the States. Our fondest wish is that youll go for all the gusto in lifes second half. That youll follow your heart, expand your mind, feed your soul, be all that you can be! And for feats such as these, dear one, youre really going to want a body thats physically up to the challenge.

Cant wait to get started? Then go! Go! In the immortal words of E.T., Ill be right here.

So! How to give you the world for your birthday? For starters, we divided the fifty Ways into the four realms of Body, Mind, Soul, and Heart. In that order, the realms correlate with the four directions (North, East, South, and West), the four seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall), and the four sacred elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water). Now, is that cosmic, or what?

Seriously, cosmic is one word for it. Holistic is another, and this is a drum I beat with enthusiasm, for holism thrums with tidings of great hope: You are not alone. We are all connected. The Whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Besides, most holistic traditions originated in the East, and I wouldnt dream of giving you only half a world.

Even Peg, a Western doctor by training, has her toes tapping in both camps, as youll discover in the Doc in the Box sections, which she researched and wrote for each Way. Her subjects range from the mainstream of allopathic (Western) medicine to the edgier modalities of what is often called complementary care or integrative medicine. Ah, but our Peg is no pushover. If you think shell just up and embrace every alternative therapy in the book, well, as the Mods banged out back in 66, youve got another think coming.