My mother had demonstrated that the best way to defeat the numbing ambivalence of middle age is to surprise yourself - by pulling off some cartwheel of thought or action never even imagined at a younger age. Gail Sheehy More Quotes by Gail Sheehy More Quotes From Gail Sheehy If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living. Gail Sheehy growth change life Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. Gail Sheehy growth organization meditation Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. It may mean a giving up of familiar but limiting patterns, safe but unrewarding work, values no longer believed in, relationships that have lost their meaning. As Dostoevsky put it, "Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most." The real fear should be of the opposite course. Gail Sheehy giving-up real mean If menopause is the silent passage, 'male menopause' is the unspeakable passage. It is fraught with secrecy, shame, and denial. It is much more fundamental than the ending of the fertile period of a woman's life, because it strikes at the core of what it is to be a man. Gail Sheehy denial males men Husbands come and go; children come and eventually they go. Friends grow up and move away. But the one thing that's never lost is your sister. Gail Sheehy sister birthday children With each passage of human growth we must shed a protective structure . We are left exposed and vulnerable - but also yeasty and embryonic again, capable of stretching in ways we hadn't known before. Gail Sheehy growth vulnerable way The source of continuing aliveness was to find your passion and pursue it, with whole heart and single mind. Gail Sheehy enjoy-life passion heart As we reach midlife in the middle thirties or early forties, we are not prepared for the idea that time can run out on us, or for the startling truth that if we don't hurry to pursue our own definition of a meaningful existence, life can become a repetition of trivial maintenance duties. Gail Sheehy running meaningful ideas You may never know when things start to go bad, but when things are worse you know it. Gail Sheehy trouble knows may The work of adult life is not easy. As in childhood, each step presents not only new tasks of development but requires a letting go of the techniques that worked before. With each passage some magic must be given up, some cherished illusion of safety and comfortably familiar sense of self must be cast off, to allow for the greater expansion of our distinctiveness. Gail Sheehy safety self letting-go Ah, mastery... what a profoundly satisfying feeling when one finally gets on top of a new set of skills... and then sees the light under the new door those skills can open, even as another door is closing. Gail Sheehy skills light doors A seasoned woman is spicy. She has been marinated in life experiences. Like a complex wine, she can be alternately sweet, tart, sparkling, mellow. She is both maternal and playful. Assured, alluring, and resourceful. Gail Sheehy life-experience wine sweet If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing. Gail Sheehy aging growing awakening Phases of the creative process: Preparation-gathering impressions Incubation-letting go of certainties Immersion/Illumination-creative intervention/risk Revision-conscious structuring and editing of creative material. Gail Sheehy illumination creativity letting-go To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist. Gail Sheehy bad-day challenges life Whether one has natural talent or not, any learning period requires the willingness to suffer uncertainty and embarrassment. Gail Sheehy natural-talent embarrassment suffering Although there are many trial marriages... there is no such thing as a trial child. Gail Sheehy marriage family love The secret in the search for meaning is to find your passion and pursue it. Gail Sheehy pursue passion secret Young women who I think do the best job of balancing family life and a big career start businesses or work for themselves. That's the best way of being in charge of your life. Gail Sheehy family-life young-women thinking My research offers impressive evidence that we feel better when we attempt to make our world better...to have a purpose beyond one's self lends to existence a meaning and direction - the most important characteristic of high well-being. Gail Sheehy our-world feel-better self
