Paying Attention to Detail...

Paying Attention to Detail…..

I had an AHA Moment after The Ultimate Game of Life (TUG) Laser Coaching call the other night, as it related to how I had "anchored" my thoughts around the Accountability Partner and playing the game.  I realized that long ago in Boot camp training I had failed an important Inspection just because I had inserted a towel incorrectly in to my locker...until that day I had done things to perfection, followed the rules by the letter...but in a moment of not paying attention to detail, the Drill Instructor anchored a thought in to my mind...she yelled at me that I MUST be aware of the circumstances and the detail of even minor things as the towel could be a parachute...folded correctly, but inserted in to the pack incorrectly could be the difference between it being a life or death situation. Paying Attention to Detail was/IS key in the military and is a way of functioning...it is life or death! Thursday night while Jim Bunch was working with Karen, my frustration over my own dealing with my AP grew and my frustration with what Jim was saying grew...but then while discussing this with Karen afterward I realized that this training while in the Navy worked...it didn't apply in ALL situations in my life any longer. The following the rules or playing by the rules though important, could be flexible AND it was not a life or death situation.  

Pick of the Week: Broken Open

Check out Broken Open written by author Elizabeth Lesser, who recently joined Oprah during her Best Life Week.

The author has written this book on dealing with difficult times, while telling her own mid-life experience, which included her divorce and an affair. During her appearance on the Oprah show, she never mentioned the affair but mainly focused on the changes that occurred during her healing after the divorce. Her point is to focus on the extreme events in our lives that change...some are from our own choices and some are forced upon us. She highlights the grieving process of one family who lost their son in a motorcycle accident.

Strangely enough, this is yet another story of a woman who has acted badly during an MLC, yet comes up victorious in the end. My only question is, if she needed to sacrifice her marriage, by entering in to an affair, which ultimately caused her to be "Broken Open"? Could she have come to the same conclusions without the brokenness? Will this book give women around the world permission to do the same things as she has...only to be broken open also? I don't think so...but at the same time, I see this book's merit...because people are being broken open everywhere nowadays!

A powerful message, secular or New Age perspective. If you want a Christian perspective, please look at Beth Moore's book Get Out of That Pit.

Join us at Women in MLC: A forum for Women in Mid-Life Crisis and for the Men that Love them. You don't have to be Broken Open to change.

On The Humorous Side: The Hot Flash Club

Welcome to the Hot Flash Club!

Whether you like it or not...this is the beginning of the rest of your life and it will be ushered in on a heat wave...it's too bad it couldn't happen on the beaches of Maui or the Bahamas...reality decided to have it happen across the landscape of your face, neck and body...OH, JOY!!! Isn't middle-age an adventure?!!!

Prepare yourself to coordinate your wardrobe with your coloring from now on...RED is going to be your enemy for the near term! Make sure you don't wear all red, because when you have a hot flash your clothes and skin will blend together...you'll look like a red hot chili pepper and I don't mean you will look like a member of the band with the same name...Oh…you'll look hot, but not sexy...hot...you'll be burning red hot all over...and there will be nothing chilly about you...your new nickname will be Pepper.

Don't worry though you'll learn how to do the newest mid-life dance craze...The Hot Flash...it is a striptease of sorts...there is nothing sexy about it...when you are finished you are dripping with sweat, standing naked in front of a fan and God help the man that wants to touch you after your performance! Your response to this will be: "You're kidding me...Right?!"

Your newest friend, who is replacing your old "friend" is full of as many surprises...but this time you will discover places that you never knew could sweat...new places that have aches and pains...but here is the bonus...you won't remember why...it's kind of like when you gave birth...all the pain of labor...you cursed your husband for putting through it…but afterward you don't remember any of it...so stupid you...you, do it again...then, you remember...you curse your husband...then forget again. Oh...yeah...you start to ramble… a lot because you can't remember your point. Yes, it affects your brain...the few brain cells you have left.

And the grand prize for entering into the Hot Flash Era is (drum roll, please!)

You will never have to worry about wearing white pants ever again!

Welcome...to Mid-Life...embrace the "hot"...and whatever you do... don't sweat the small stuff...it will be over in a flash!

Amy L. Harden Copyright 2008