Random Thoughts by Shelley: July 2014

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating. – Karl von Clausewitz

Week #31 - 49 Weeks ‘til I’m 50 – Ready, Set, it’s all about A FOCUSed plan to get there! Wow, only 18 weeks left.

Here I am again, randomly deciding to blog about my FOCUSed plan of being ready to turn 50. I’ve read to be a successful blogger, you’re not supposed to post randomly. You are supposed to be a steady eddy. I guess that’s a bummer for me, and you, especially if you are trying to follow this blog for certainty about how to be successful turning 50. Hopefully you can appreciate the uncertainty of when I’ll be back.

By nature, the closer I get to 50, the happier I am to blog randomly versus every Sunday at 9:15 am. I enjoy moments in life where I cut myself some slack. The nagging reminder of the original clarity of my plan loses out to the frequency of uncertainty about what to write about. Maybe the certainty of blogging about turning 50 every week is too much of a reminder I will be 50, sooner rather than later. Yikes, what if that is it?! Let's just say jumping in to post randomly is more exciting for a random person like me.

What are my thoughts about turning 50 today? I certainly have my doubts that turning 50 will be any different than how I feel today at the age of 49. I do keep wondering if there will be some drastic change the day I turn 50? The uncertainty of the big change is outweighed by some clear thoughts about a few things.

After much thought I’m betting that I’ll still have hair that is continuing on its quest for total grey. There are days I think of the movie, The Santa Clause with Tim Allen. You know the scene where he tries to color his hair and it turns back to white every time. All my threats with my hairdresser that we’ll both forgo coloring from that point forward will likely lose steam. I’ll probably still color my hair.
I’m positive that I’ll have a few more wrinkles despite the fact that I’ve found some great skin care products. I’m hopeful that exfoliating and moisturizing will continue to delay the wrinkle process. My favorites are from the http://naturals.neutrogena.com/products. I love these two products: http://naturals.neutrogena.com/products/pore-scrub and http://naturals.neutrogena.com/products/moisturizer.
I’m hopeful my choice to take probiotics will continue on with lessening the effects of hot flashes. I’m truly amazed at how they have diminished the frequency and intensity of hot flashes. While I could be totally wrong that there is any connection to them, I’d highly recommend taking probiotics to anyone: http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-probiotics-ultimate-probiotic-formula-3-pack-3-30-ct-bottles-veg-drcaps. If you’ve had the opportunity to experience hot flashes I bet you can attest to the fact that they don’t really have a pattern and they are definitely annoying and unpredictable. So I'm betting anything that can potentially minimize them, is worth a shot. Are you game for the uncertainty and willing to give them a try?

That’s enough thoughts for one day. Intellectually, I confess, I am curious about what it will be like to be 50. All in all, I’m going to hold on to the uncertainty of what it will be like to turn 50 since that is the fascinating part to me. I do know that even when I arrive at the big 50, there will remain moments of uncertainty in life. I’m positive they will be balanced by intense moments of clarity. I intend to make every moment worth it, regardless of the level of clarity.

Thanks for stopping by ~ may you find joy and clarity in your moments of uncertainty in life.

PS – Photography thoughts for the day. When in doubt about uncertainty and lack of clarity in my life, I’m triggered to grab my camera and search outside to find something fascinating in nature. I find that just wandering around the yard to randomly seek out unique angles, or things in nature releases me from the longing to find clarity. Seasons in Wisconsin change quickly. As I walk around the yard, I remind myself that in 18 weeks when I turn 50 all the beautiful greens of the yard and corn field will be brown and quickly thereafter snowy white. Just that realization gives me incentive to spend as much time as I can outside enjoying the growth of this season. Intellectually, I always want some clarity about what to take pictures of. But...it is way more fascinating to randomly shoot in the RAW!