Women Over 40 Discovered New Passions and Hobbies

 

She'd taken on the role to prove herself—to her family, to David and even to herself. She'd spent a week assisting with tours, being trained—delicately, she thought now. Staff members treated family members with kid gloves.

It had jarred her to realize just how little she knew about the winery, about the vineyards, about the process and about the public areas and retail venue. It would take more than a week and some subtle education to learn how to handle any of those areas on her own. But by God, she could handle a group at a wine tasting.

And was determined to prove it.

She was going to learn how to handle a great many things, including her own life.

The Villa

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Kristin Hardwick, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

We're not sure about old dogs and new tricks, but for humans of a certain age, the science is clear: Being an absolute beginner is an absolutely great way to stay sharp and strong. Learn from eight women who mastered new skills in their 40s and beyond, and warm up for your next act.

MARTHA STEWART

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Struggling to crochet—her newest hobby—Sylvia sat on the porch with a pitcher of fresh lemonade and butter cookies while Fiona listened to the client repeat the gist of their phone consult.

The Search

Daily Routine To Do Outside Instead of Inside

 

Rogan's grounds were lush with blooms and flowering herbs, exotic with olive and box trees and the

sparkle of fountains. The quiet was disturbed only by the call of gulls and the music of falling water.

Content, Maggie lounged in one of the padded chaises on a sun-washed terrace and sketched.

Born in Fire

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Table and Chairs by Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Increasing the amount of time you spend outdoors can have a positive effect on nearly every part of your health, from your lung function to your mood—but fitting it into an already-busy schedule can feel impossible. Here's a better approach: Shift the bulk of your daily routine outside and rack up those fresh-air minutes without any extra effort.

MARTHA STEWART

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“I thought we’d eat out on the deck.”

“Perfect.” She carried out the salad, went back for plates, flatware. By the time he pulled the steaks off the grill, she’d set the table—with the flowers—topped off their wine.

The Perfect Hope

How to Respond to "Bless Your Heart"

“She was so steamed up when I was leaving she shouted out how she’d been second-runner-up Miss Tennessee, which is her spotlight of fame. To that, I ended the encounter with the southern woman’s sweetest and most pitying insult.”

“I know that.” He pointed a finger. “I know that one. You said ‘Bless your heart.’”

The Liar

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via GIPHY

  

In the South, ‘bless your heart' situations arise all day, every day. Walk around long enough, and you'll hear ‘bless your/their/his/her heart' spoken either vehemently aloud or in a breathless whisper. It's a versatile phrase indeed. It has a thousand meanings—and just as many possible responses.

Southern Living

Measure Your Ring Size at Home

 

“I love you, so we’re getting married.”

She held out her hand, tapped her ring finger.

“Right.” He took the ring, slid it on her finger.

“It fits,” she said softly. “How did you know?”

“Measured one of your other ones.”

“I’m so lucky to be marrying a handy man.”

 

The Perfect Hope

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Estate Diamond Jewelry, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Try one of these three easy methods to make sure your ring fits perfectly, every time.

REAL SIMPLE

Beat the Post-Holiday Blues

 

She wanted to slow the clock down-just for this day, just this one day-but it sped by, from dawn and the excitement of opening gifts, to the candlelight and the lavish meal David prepared and served on her best china.

Before she knew it, the house was quiet once more.

She wandered down to take a last look at the tree, to sit alone in the parlor with her coffee and her memories of the day, and all the Christmases before.

Black Rose

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Nenad Stojkovic from Srbija, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Bring light back into your life after the holidays have passed

 

This weekend, the holidays are officially over. For many people, Wednesday was the last day of children being home from school, and Monday resumes the full regular workweek.

Today, though, instead of happily resettling into “normal” life and enjoying the weekend, you may be feeling some post-activity depression that so many descend into.

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

Reasons To Make New Year’s Resolutions 🎆

 

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Many people will make New Year’s resolutions, however the majority will also fail to achieve them. But making resolutions is still a good idea—with plenty of positive effects.

FORBES

The Dining Room Is Back

 

"Set the table in the dining room. Use the good dishes."

"How come we're eating in there? It's not Thanksgiving."

"And the linen napkins," she added. "The ones with roses on them. Six place settings. Wash your hands first."

"Jeez. She's just a girl. You'd think the Queen of England or somebody was coming over."

Chesapeake Blue

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Mapelor, S.L., CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Why so many people are embracing a forgotten space

 

The formal dining room, long considered a symbol of wealth and privilege, has been the subject of much debate over the past 30 years. Some declared it dead, a relic of a bygone era when families sat down together each night for a home-cooked meal. Others clung to it as a place to welcome friends and family for holiday meals. All the while, American families turned toward eating in more informal spaces in the kitchen or — gasp — in front of the TV or on the go.

Washington Post

Self-Care Practice That Requires Just 15 Minutes of Your Day

 

She found herself doing something she did only with family, and the most intimate of friends. Relaxing.

Each night, for her own pleasure, she recounted the day's events and her observations in a journal.

 

Cordina’s Crown Jewel

________________________

Author = Emily Barrett

Journaling

- how to start -

Relieve stress and process difficult periods of life by taking up this habit.

MARTHA STEWART

Single on Valentine's Day?

 

Now her eyeroll was absolutely sincere. “Cal, no woman wants to tag along 

with a couple to a dance on Valentine’s Day. It paints a big L for loser 

in the middle of her forehead, and they’re so damn hard to wash off.”

Blood Brothers

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By Banej - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20114709

 

30 fun, positive things to do if you're single on Valentine's Day

—either alone or with your Galentines—

all of which are better than an overpriced dinner.

The Oprah Magazine

"collect moments, not things."

When she’d sold her condo and then in one frantic week, auctioned off

every possession she owned—every stick of furniture, every pot and pan

and appliance—they’d been certain she’d gone over the edge.

Rebecca had never felt saner.

She owned nothing that didn’t fit in a suitcase. She no longer had any

tax-deferred investments or retirement plans. She’d cashed in her

certificates of deposit, and the home entertainment center she’d thought she

couldn’t live without was now gracing someone else’s home.

It had been more than six weeks since she’d even looked at an adding

machine.

For the first—and perhaps the only—time in her life, she was totally

free.

Impulse

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By StockSnap - 

https://pixabay.com/en/people-woman-travel-adventure-trek-2591874/ archive copy, CC0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72553316

Spending Money on Experiences Makes You a Better Person

It can make you more grateful and generous.

You've probably heard about the health benefits of practicing gratitude—how it can boost your mood, help you treat others better, improve physical health, and keep stress and fear at bay. Now, here's a little trick for how to automatically infuse more gratitude into your life: Spend more money on experiences, and less on material objects.

Martha Stewart

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“Wait.” He held up a hand, wanting to be certain he understood

everything. “You’re telling me that you sold your possessions, all your

possessions?”

She couldn’t remember ever having felt more foolish, and she

straightened her shoulders defensively. “Right down to my coffeepot.”

“Amazing,” he murmured.

“I bought new clothes, new luggage, and flew to London. First-class.

I’d never been on a plane before in my life.”

“You’d never flown, but took your first trip across the Atlantic.”

Impulse

This Is What Playfulness Does To Your Relationship

"You can work eight, twelve hours a day," Parks continued. 

"You can enjoy your job, be terrific at what you do, 

but you still need to throw a Frisbee now and again."

"Frisbee?" This brought on a baffled laugh that pleased him. 

The hands on his shoulders relaxed. "What are you talking about?"

''Fun, Brooke. A sense of the ridiculous, laziness, riding Ferris wheels. 

All those things that make working worthwhile."

She had the uncomfortable feeling she was being expertly 

led away from the subject at hand.

 "What does riding a Ferris wheel have to do with you and me making love?"

Rules Of The Game

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Peter Drier [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

I’ll be the first to admit, well, maybe not the first, but I’m admitting it anyway: 

it’s not that easy to be playful.

Even when I know that playfulness and fun bring more harmony, 

delight, surprises and loving kindness in my relationship. 

Even science confirm that playfulness makes the relationship more strong.

Jolanda Herc

_____________

"Throw a few Frisbees with me, Brooke. Ride a

few waves. Let's see where it takes us."

Looking at him, she could feel her resistance melting. 

Before she could prevent it, her hand had lifted

from his shoulder to brush at the hair that fell over his forehead. 

"You make it sound so simple,"

she murmured.

"Not simple." He took her other hand and pressed his lips to the palm. 

"Even fun isn't always simple."

Rules Of The Game

"She’d come for the adventure, for the thrill. For the freedom."

“Yes, exactly. I bided my time. When I was eighteen, I left. 

There was insurance money that came to me then, and a small trust 

fund from the sale of our house in Saint Louis. I planned to go to college.

 I had no idea what I wanted to do or be, so I decided to take a year off first and 

do something my parents had always talked of doing. To tour Europe.”

“Alone?”

“Yes, alone.” She sipped her wine now, leaning back on the counter. 

Had she ever told anyone even this much before? 

Since the night everything changed for her? No, no one. What would have been the point?

“I was thrilled to be alone, to have no schedule, no one telling me what to do. 

It was both an adventure and a pilgrimage for me. 

I backpacked through Italy.”

Wolf Moon

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By StockSnap - 

https://pixabay.com/en/people-woman-travel-adventure-trek-2591874/ 

archive copy at the

 Wayback Machine (archived on 19 January 2019), CC0,

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72553316

This Unexpected Travel Trend Is Especially Popular Among Women Right Now

Solo trips are one of 2019’s biggest travel trends, 

and women are definitely leading the charge.

Real Simple

Brad Pitt ‘Removed’ His ‘Drinking Privileges’

"It's easy to delude yourself that you're entitled, that you're just fine when you're in a haze most of the time. Easy to ignore the fact that you're letting your wife and child down in a dozen ways, every single day. Forgetting dinner parties or birthdays, slipping out of bed-where you are useless to her in any case- to have just one more drink, dozing off when you're supposed to be watching your own baby. Just not being there, not completely there. Ever."

"It's a hard thing to go through, I imagine. For everyone involved."

"Harder for the ones you shipwreck with you, believe me. I wouldn't go to counseling with her, refused to attend meetings, to talk to anyone about what she saw as my problem. Even when she told me she was leaving me, when she packed her things, and Josh's

things, and walked out. I barely noticed they were gone."

Black Rose

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By SpreePiX from Budapest, HU - IMG_8724_1 Brad Pitt, CC BY 2.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10776545

Brad Pitt is known to be one of the most dedicated actors in Hollywood — 

and he used that quality to get sober following his split from ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star detailed his journey in a new profile 

The New York Times published on Wednesday, September 4.

MSN

______________________

"That was tremendously brave of her."

"Yes, it was." His gaze sharpened on Roz's face. 

"Yes, it was, and I suppose a woman like you would understand just how brave it

was. It took me another full year to hit the bottom, to look around at my life and see nothing. 

To realize I'd lost what was most precious,

and that it was too late to ever get it back. I went to meetings."

"That takes courage, too."

"My first meeting?" He took another bite of his sandwich. "Scared to death. 

I sat in the back of the room, in the basement of this tiny

church, and shook like a child."

"A lot of courage."

Black Rose

Ways your parents' behaviors shaped who you are today

When she'd run out of steam, Stella rubbed her hands over her face. "Goddamn it."

"That's a lot of bitching, whining, and venom to pack into a quarter of an hour. 

She sounds like a very talented woman."

It took Stella a minute—a minute where she let her hands slide into her lap 

so she could stare into Roz's face. Then she let her own head fall back 

with a peal of laughter.

"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, she's loaded with talent. Thanks."

"No problem. My mama spent most of her time—at least the time 

we were on earth together—sighing wistfully over her health. Not 

that she meant to complain, so she said. I very nearly put that on her 

tombstone. 'Not That I Mean to Complain.'"

"I could put 'I Don't Ask for Much' on my mother's."

"There you go. Mine made such an impression on me that I went 

hell-bent in the opposite direction. I could probably cut off a limb, 

and you wouldn't hear a whimper out of me."

"God, I guess I've done the same with mine. 

I'll have to think about that later." 

Blue Dahlia

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By Humyra khandoker - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76617469

Whether your parents were your best friends or you barely knew them, 

your relationship with Mom and Dad had an impact on who you are today.

MSN

Yoga vs. Gym

She opened the refrigerator, got out the water. “Either. But thanks. 

I’m going over to the gym. I want some cardio. 

I assume that’s where Quinn is?”

“Noises were made. Why don’t you stick with the Gumby routine?”

“It’s not what I’m after. Yoga relaxes me. I need to pump.”

The Pagan Stone

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By Victor Tondee - https://www.flickr.com/photos/115887883@N05/16781930910, 

CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41605463

Which Is Really a Workout?

“Is yoga really a workout?” When I typed that into Google I was pretty astonished at the contrast of dead set opinions and recommendations that are floating around out there.

Huffington Post 

Guaranteeing a second date while on a first date

“This is all ammunition, Cart. All ammo. You want to be able to order a nice bottle of wine. 

Oh, and after dinner, if she says how she doesn’t want dessert, you suggest 

she pick one and you’ll split it. Women love that. Sharing dessert’s sexy.”

Vision in White

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By Morgan - originally posted to Flickr as Cheesecake, CC BY 2.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10226856

Couples on Channel 4's First Dates were analysed, with some interesting findings

Mirror

__________________

She smiled. “Look how cute you are in your smarty-pants. Now why don’t you order dessert, 

so I can pretend to be self-righteous and not—then eat half of yours?”

They lingered. She’d forgotten what it was like to have a meal with a man she could have

long, twisty conversation with. One who listened, who paid attention—whether or not 

he was thinking about the possible bonus round at the end of the evening.

He made her think, she realized. And entertained her. 

Vision in White

Hobbies are Good for You

I don't have hobbies. I have passions.

Nora Roberts

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By Lawnmower Hut - http://lawnmowerhut.com, CC BY-SA 4.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47898025

How to Find One That Fits Your Personality

Having a hobby is a great way to relieve stress, a creative outlet and a way to meet new people. In fact, there are lots of ways hobbies are good for you. But if you don’t have a regular leisure activity that you enjoy, it can be difficult to decide which one will be enjoyable for you. Here are some tips for finding an interest that fits your personality and interests.

Lifehack

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"It's a hobby. Most people have one."

"It's your gift," he corrected, "and you've been neglecting it."

Enchanted

Things You Should Do Every Sunday

Morgana enjoyed the peace of Sunday afternoons. It was her day to indulge

herself-and from her first breath, Morgana had appreciated indulgences. Not that

she avoided work. She had put a great deal of time and effort into seeing that her

shop ran smoothly and turned a profit-without using her special skills to smooth

her path. Still, she firmly believed that the proper reward for any effort was

relaxation.

Captivated

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renato agostini [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

When you think about your perfect Sunday, it could involve sleeping in, going out for brunch, and then binge watching Netflix. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs can't enjoy that luxury. Either we're tied down to a completing a deadline or we simply just can't sit there and not be productive. The thing is, you do need to enjoy some time away from the business. You can actually step away from work and still have a productive Sunday by doing the following six things. If you do, you'll notice that you'll be more productive, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle the work week when your alarm goes off on Monday morning.

INC

__________________

“Didn’t come in until Sunday, and I had the day off—fond, fond memory. 

You guys get Sundays off?”

“Now and again.”

“Something about sleeping in on a Sunday morning, 

or sleeping off Saturday night

until Sunday afternoon. But Monday always comes.”

Remember When

Could your child survive alone in the woods?

The kid had been out for a minimum of two hours, she thought. A lifetime for worried parents.

But toddlers didn’t have any real sense of time. Children of his age were very mobile, she mused, and didn’t always understand the concept of being lost. They wandered, distracted by sights and sounds, and had considerable endurance, so it might be hours of that wandering before Hugh tired out and realized he wanted his mother.

She watched a rabbit skitter away into the brush. Peck had too much dignity to do more than spare it a passing glance.

But a little boy? Fiona thought. One who loved his “Wubby,” who enjoyed animals? One his mother said was fascinated by the forest? Wouldn’t he want to try to catch it, probably hoping to play with it?

He’d try, wouldn’t he, to follow it? City boy, she thought, enchanted with the woods, the wildlife, the other of it all.

How could he resist?

The Search 

_______________

There's a hierarchy of survival skills that are appropriate for children.

For any parent, the idea of your children wondering lost and alone in the wilderness is a terrifying one. A family in California had their worst fears come true on March 1, 2019.

Two sisters, ages 8 and 5, miraculously survived 44 hours alone in the woods in freezing temperatures. But it wasn't just luck that kept them safe.

mother nature network

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“Where'd you find him?” Trent asked Nathaniel quietly.

“Up on the cliffs, holed up in a crevice in the rocks.”

“Good God.” C.C. shuddered. “Did he spend the night up there?”

“Looked that way. I had this feeling, I can't explain it. And there he was.”

Megan's Mate