Category: middle-aged women
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Do I Really Have To Give Up Drinking?
My choice to drink less has nothing to do with “seeing the light” in terms of my health, or because I’ve managed to avoid the dangerous lure of addiction that runs through my family tree. It is not even based on the advice of my doctor – although I’m sure she would back me wholeheartedly.…
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Trusting the Journey: The Secret to Happiness in Middle Age
It is only now, in middle age, that I am finally accepting that I don’t possess the superpower (or indeed any superpower) to fix everything – no one does, not even those with the money to buy whatever they want or need. Money may be able to buy rockets, but it can’t buy you back…
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9 Surprising Truths I discovered About Myself In 2020
Compared to many people, I was fortunate to emerge from 2020 relatively unscathed. Admittedly, certain elements of our brief lockdown in Sydney tested me, but because my job carried on pretty much as usual (and I don’t get out much anyway), there were few noticeable changes in my day-to-day life. However, I don’t think anyone…
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There’s Nothing Wrong With Contentment
Recently, a friend of mine was dealing with a family crisis. She admitted to our group that she wasn’t coping and was struggling to do it all – support the child who was struggling, balance her carer responsibilities with her home life, and job hunt in a market that eschews the over-fifties. And when another…
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5 Wardrobe Essentials Every Middle-Aged Women Should Have
Recently, I wore a cropped sweater to work and one of the kids accused me of not dressing my age. I was so outraged by the comment that I demanded to know why she expected me to kowtow to society’s construct of how women should dress in middle-age? Needless to say, she looked back at…
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Middle-Aged Women: We Need To Talk About The Necessary Evil Of Exercise
Full Disclosure: As I write this post, I am sitting at my desk full of remorse at my complete lack of control around a wine bottle this weekend. Hence, I am probably the last person you should listen to about making the necessary improvements to your life to improve your longevity… I read somewhere recently…
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Middle-Aged Women: We Need To Be More Selfish With Our Time
Have you felt really exhausted lately? I know that excessive tiredness comes with the territory of menopause and living through a pandemic, but what I’m feeling at the moment is more like a heavy weight pushing down on me, squeezing every drop of energy from my body. And I know exactly what it is –…
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Middle Age: Time To Stop Worrying About Our Bodies And Start Focusing On Our Brains
I’ve had a mixed reaction in my circle about my decision to shed a few kilos. There are those friends who have been supportive – in that they understand the need to manage my weight gain through menopause, if possible. Then there is the other “life’s too short to be miserable” camp, who don’t believe…
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I won’t be getting sober anytime soon but I am “drinking smarter”
Photo from Damir Spanic on Unsplash I was a grown-up last weekend. The old man and I went on a date night to a swanky restaurant and I chose to drive. In my last post I talked about the necessity of making choices in middle age, and prior to last night, I would have looked…
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Empty-Nesting: How awesomely liberating is it doing exactly what YOU want now?
It’s my birthday next week, and as has been our agreement for a number of years, the old man and I have a process in place for the event when it comes to presents. It goes something like this: I negotiate a budget (that usually works in my favour because he pretends to feel some…
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Let’s Stop Judging Ourselves By Our Bodies
I went on a girls night to the city last Friday night. I’m ashamed to admit that it took me longer to get ready than usual because the outfit I had put together in my head that week looked crap when I put it on and I had a confidence crisis, which meant I had…
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Bad Dreams? I Blame Anxiety
Photo by Rodolfo Sanches Carvalho on Unsplash Of course, sleeping in the garden might be my problem and I could simply invest in a bed. I used to have this theory about dreaming, which was that only creative, imaginative people had them. I admit that this conclusion was drawn from the fact that the old man doesn’t dream.…
Louisa Simmonds 