So, these are the Golden Years?
The years when you can kick back your heels and do whatever the heck you so desire?
No time pressures.
No unruly deadlines.
No issues with information management.
Why?
Because your calendar has lots of white space and you can fill it in any way you desire:
– Pickleball
– Canasta or majong
– Travel
– Daily exercise
– Lunch with the gals
– Volunteer commitments
– Involvement with grandkids
This is not my life.
I have, with full intentionality and full awareness, taken on a huge project — a project which is rapidly draining me of some of my sanity and some of my good humor — none of which I possessed in overabundance to begin with.
It is also forcing me to learn new skills by looking at my day-to-day responsibilities in an innovative way and challenging me to live my best life without being sleep and exercise deprived while living on bowls of Rice Krispies and drinking too much coffee.
I can actually “blame” it on two Jewish women in the Cincinnati community who wish to remain anonymous out of false modesty. They have greatly impacted the quality of life Cincinnatians enjoy — both in the secular and the non-secular milieu.
I’m really using self-restraint here in not revealing their names because their input was so clutch. I needed friends with experience to listen to me, reassure me that I had a great idea and was fulfilling an unmet need and providing something of benefit to women of all ages and backgrounds.
With their unfailing encouragement and guidance, I started a non-profit “Preserving Your Bloom.” Its purpose is to provide educational, engaging and impactful programming to women of all ages who are eager to be the best version of themselves.
As one of my “Wonder Women” described my non-profit’s educational vision: “It serves as a refresh button that women can set to remind themselves how to live with joy and empowerment.”
I hold my “Wonder Women” fully accountable for my lack of free time because they are my tribe — simply the BEST CHEERLEADERS EVER. And they both have utilized their much-admired track records to prove to me that I too am on a good path.
As the other one of my “Wonder Women” duo puts it, “What good is growing, if you never get to bloom?”
Our programming is aimed at just that: BLOOMING.
Three events will take place this year with the Tampa Jewish Federation and JCC as partners. (Who knows? Maybe next year in my beloved hometown of Cincinnati?)
The name of the series is “The Culture of Female Friendship” and we will be exploring all aspects of this fascinating and complex topic.
And here is what I have learned along the way:
In Judaism, work is viewed as our ability to create and contribute to society. And the workplace affords us unique opportunities to inspire others to be better people.
You can still be busy as heck and take time to celebrate Shabbat. The Torah tells us that Judaism exists to bring holiness into the mundane and that we can achieve this by creating something new. And Shabbat — a time of rest and reflection — helps us achieve greater clarity and greater efficiency when we are engulfed in this tumultuous process.
Yes, I’m busier than ever. But for the first time in my 76 years, I’m making a concerted effort to usher in the Queen and keep those 24 hours of Shabbat both sacred and holy.
I’m trying. I’m going for mouse steps, not kangaroo leaps.
I’m not there yet, by any means, but I have learned that if you don’t try, you certainly won’t get there.
My “Wonder Women” taught me that too.
