Courageous Stories Show We’re Not Alone

Kathy Sporre ♦ March 7, 2013 ♦ 2 Comments

EMOTIONAL WELLNESS – Be mindful of how you feel! Engage in mindfulness activities such as yoga and tai chi; talk with your doctor or counselor if you’re feeling blue.

SOCIAL WELLNESS – Stay connected! Volunteer in the community, take classes, visit with friends, join online social networks.

Imagine that a crisis or major life change just occurred in your life. Shock is most likely the first thing to hit you. Shock can be accompanied by disbelief and denial until, as is commonly heard today, you are able to “get your mind around it.” In other words, until you are able to accept it and hopefully come to terms with it.

Crises and major life changes is the stuff that we usually hear about on the evening news or around the coffee table; the stuff that affects other people. That’s the norm. When major life changes come to roost on our doorstep, it seems impossible and unimaginable. (If you haven’t experienced this yet, be patient. Time has a way of teaching us the unimaginable.)

When first faced with things of great magnitude, we can tend to feel all alone. As I’m being refined by age™ I realize I am never alone; ever. God is always present in my life. I sometimes forget, but He remains with me, regardless. Being the social creatures we are, we need to share our experiences with others and hear their stories. Nothing can make us feel  more like we still belong in and with the human race than the act of relating with others.

That’s why I’ve always respected people who are able to share their personal stories; whether that be through conversation or in writing. That’s why I write: to relate with others and hopefully do some good in the process. That’s why 12-step groups and support groups of all kinds were formed: for people to come together around an issue that is relevant to everyone in the group so as not to feel isolated, and to share in the hope that other people’s experiences can bring.

Carol Orsborn, PhD, has managed to do just that. She has written and published her very personal and courageous memoirs covering her initial year “on the wild side of 50.” Knowing Carol, she not only wishes to share her experiences, but her hope with those of us who are reaching that magic, transitional age. Her book, “Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn,” will deeply resonate with those who are transitioning beyond the identity that is tied up in a business card.

It is a moving, honest, hard-to-put-down account of that transitional year that is filled with loss, discovery, and renewal and the gamut of emotions that made up her experience.  Carol wants us to know that we are not alone in our process of transitioning from a “doing” state which is associated with our titles, accomplishments and successes – to that of simply “being.”

I am grateful for the wisdom and insights I found within the covers of her book which will help me when I make my own transition. There is one insight that I will keep in my heart forever. (In some way, I already knew it.) You’ll have to read her book to find the insights that resonate in your soul.

Many people have pioneered this path into a new way of being in and with the world. Carol has gone further by letting us see a very personal journey through sharing her experience  in her newest and most wonderful book.

You can experience the first three chapters of “Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn” right here: Fierce_with_Age_excerpt (3)

If you haven’t experienced her digest, it can be found at www.fiercewithage.com.

P.S. Be one of the first two people to comment on this post, and you can win one of two free books of Carol’s that she is giving away.