I know that’s not a good word, “re-teening” ourselves and it probrably isn’t even a real word found in Webster’s but I suspect after you read this article you’ll see why I came up with this title!

We never had children so at 49, I sometimes forget that I’m as old as I am (with no one around to remind me about what a dork I am…) and therefore can be found spontaneously dancing to an imaginary tune for a friend as we stand in line at the grocers or becoming really happy when I hear my friend Andy Hartsock sing this song http://www.andyhartsock.com/Audio/5Monkeys.mp3 which is really meant for kids but I can get away with it because, again, I don’t have teenagers reminding me to be seen (when they tell me) and not heard!!

I love teenagers, don’t get me wrong. In fact, I Coach that very special teen that WANTS coaching (not because their parents want them to be coached) so that they can put together steps for their future.  I guess I’m pretty much still such a teenager myself inside and also was very impacted by my teenager years so it enables me to be able to relate (for the most part) to how a teen thinks and feels.  It’s really a sucky time for most teens, that time between being a child and becoming an adult.  I also had such a low self-esteem when I was in my teens that I would have never ever admitted to listening to a song like “Five Little Monkeys” much less dancing to it (our black Lab just rolled her eyes at me dancing as she stretched out on the kitchen floor) and sending it out for others to enjoy!

This is the good news about getting older though, which is that at some point we reach a place where we just let go and accept who we are—weirdness and all.  There’s actually a whole lot of really cool stuff that comes with getting older that we don’t focus on out there in business land.  For instance, I’ve learned that when there are gaps in my knowledge brain bank that I can put my brain on “search” and the information will come up and in the meantime, I can open up my heart more to the person or people in front of me and connect with them until the piece of information that I couldn’t access, comes to the forefront.  That’s a heckuva lot easier on my adrenals then getting all stressed out because I can’t remember a piece of information. 

It almost sounds like I’m smoking pot only I’m not.  But it’s that kind of calmness of being who I am now that, I believe, comes with acceptance of ourselves as we get older.

Actually, I suspect my brain always worked this way; I just have the excuse now of being older to hang it on if I want. 

Indulge me and click on Andy’s link to hear “Five Little Monkeys” and dance a little jig.  It’s good for us not to take ourselves so seriously!