It’s the holiday season and we are all BUSY so I will keep this short and
to the point by sharing a quote that serves as a reminder to live in the
“present”.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why
we call it the present.” … Joan Rivers”
Enjoy your “present”.

Commit to taking one step.
In my first post I talked about my 4 year plan for a flip-flop retirement. When reviewing the last four years I can see that this was the beginning of living my life on “purpose”.  This process has been gradual but is becoming a positive habit.

Most of my life adult life has been lived in a “reactive” mode. By this I mean something happens and I respond in reaction and that determines my next step. As a young girl I decided I wanted to be a nurse. That was a plan that I worked hard on and completed successfully. I met a man and got married. We got divorced, I went back to school and became an Anesthesist, that was mostly reactive, but that has worked out well. I remarried, didn’t plan that but it has worked. I had two children, which wasn’t really a plan and then I lived an EXTREMELY reactive life for the next 20 years! Only recently have I knowingly made choices that let me live a more purposeful lifestyle.

By now I’m sure that you understand what I mean by a “reactive” lifestyle. We plan time to do things that have meaning to us, things that are important to us. The phone rings, we check our inboxes and Facebook. Soon we realize that the time has disappeared and we have nothing to show for it. We beat ourselves up and lament “I just don’t have enough time.” We all tend to live our lives this way UNLESS we make a conscious decision NOT to.

Decisions feel good. It feels good to have a plan and to see that plan through to its end. It feels good to complete a plan, even a very small one. It’s good to experience that feeling. It fuels the next step and then the next. When we begin to plan changes we often think it is all or nothing. It isn’t. Completion of even the first step will provide fuel for the next step. One step at a time, step after step, until we reach our end result. Celebrate each step.

Decide on ONE thing right now! ONE thing that feels like you would be living life on “purpose”. ONE small decision and then another. Pretty soon you have a plan. Unplug, even for 15 minutes at a time, start living your life on “purpose.”

What is ONE thing that you can commit to right now? Please share it here. When we commit to something publically we are much more likely to follow through, and that’s a good thing.

 

For many years I’ve worn a warm-up jacket (I work in the Operating Room) designed around the theme of the much-loved, but lowly, flip-flop.

When patients admired it—and many have—I explained that it was a metaphor for how I wanted to live as I near semi-retirement. A relaxed attitude in a warm climate where I could live in flip-flops year ‘round! It’s the attitude that I am working toward in my daily life.

60+60=The Plan
It was January, 2008, when I bought this car, ordered the vanity plate and started the “plan.”I was determined to take 60 days off from work to celebrate my 60th birthday, which is January 15th 2012. My leave of absence starts January 1!

If you don’t make a plan it won’t happen. I’m right on schedule.

My husband, Dan, and I are avid sailors and divers. When we visited Saba, in the Dutch Caribbean, in 2005, we fell in love! Long story, short version, we have built our retirement home there. We are nowhere near full retirement but I do have 6 long, wonderful weeks to spend there this winter! I love it when a plan comes together.

What’s Important Now?
In addition to wanting to spend my winters in the Caribbean, I have an even more important goal to reach: That of living a more artful and purposeful life.

Creativity has always been an important aspect of my life. I was lonely after the kids left home and my husband was in a Ph.D program. I had had kidney cancer and, although I’m fine, it brought an awareness that I wanted more in my life. Creativity, that is.

I converted my daughter’s bedroom (a loft that looks out on the creek) and bathroom into my art studio. A great start and I had fun stocking it with bits and pieces of things that said “art” to me. I schedule regular time there and it has brought me great peace.

Taking workshops from local artists has made it possible to meet other local artists and to carve time in my schedule for creativity. I highly recommend it!

My next question to myself: How could I continue this practice on Saba, continue to meet new and interesting women who shared my interest, and contribute to my new community? Arts on the Rocks is the result of those musings: www.artsontherocks.com is live today!

Yeah, Another Plan That has Come Together
A dynamic instructor, Brenda Belfield, will be my first guest artist to teach at these retreats.

The first retreat is Feb.19-23rd, 2012. I know it is going to be great.

A Caribbean island in February with a great instructor, all supplies provided.

What’s not to love?