Coping,with,Change,Mid-Life,Wh DIY Coping with Change at Mid-Life: What Can We Learn from the S


When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in


We have been hearing a lot about change. Change is all around us in our external environment. How is it impacting you? As I work with mid-life generations poised to enter what we often call the third act, many of them are experiencing fear, anxiety, inertia or listlessness. They have already retired; they are approaching retirement or want to work fewer hours to enjoy more personal pursuits. But now external events have immobilized them. With their retirement nest eggs depleted, they now believe they need to work a few more years. Some they fear losing their current job? Or they may already have a pink slip. Change caused by external events or anticipated through our own actions generates fear. Bob Waterman in "The Renewal Factor" suggests, "Even when our minds say change is normal, our stomachs quiver at the prospect." Those of us who have been through many changes in our lives still find our stomachs quivering.So how do we find the courage to face the fear, determine what road to take, and turn our dreams into reality? There are many metaphors for coping with change. One of my favorites is Dorothy's experience in Oz. As Dorothy tells her dog Toto, "We are not in Kansas anymore." We know that in 2009, so much has changed for us collectively that we are not living in the metaphorical "Kansas" anymore either. Our individual lives have either changed or are threatened with change. Some of us are hunkering down with anxiety and confusion waiting...waiting for something or someone...The Wizard perhaps... to help us return to "Kansas". Some of us want things to remain the same and we hang onto our current life style, maintaining the familiar habits, patterns and beliefs, hoping to ride out the storm in the cellar and come out when it has moved on. Others of us are following our own "yellow brick road" and taking the initiative to create the life we want to lead in the next few years, although it may be with fewer resources than we had hoped. The story of the Wizard of Oz offers us some wisdom to help us cope with the turbulent storms swirling around us and encourage us to launch a brave start on the yellow brick road.Dorothy's story begins on the farm in Kansas, a gray drab place where she is unhappy and afraid that crabby Almira Gulch will come and take Toto away. No one seems to care and she feels stuck believing that her only alternative is to run away. Just as many of us become stuck and unhappy in jobs, work and organizations that no longer provide opportunities for growth and challenge or for reward and recognition. We may want to run away too; or be so filled with fear and anxiety that we are stuck and can't move. In times like these, the blustery winds of our economic recession may also carry us unexpectedly to an unknown place like Oz? Dorothy, like many of us, when she lands in Oz, is not an explorer or much of an adventurer. She doesn't really know how things work in this strange and unfamiliar land. But she knows what she wants ...she has a clear goal...to go back home. As Dorothy begins her trip down the yellow brick road to find the Wizard to help her get back home, she meets three important characters who are also stuck in their beliefs...the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion. What they learn by the time they have traveled the road, eliminated the wicked witch and discovered the Wizard is a mere mortal, is that when they believe in themselves, they have what they want...a brain, a heart, courage. These new friends provide Dorothy a support group that rescues her from spells and capture by the wicked witch. She also discovers she has her own resources to take her home....the ruby slippers.What is the message for us stuck in our fear and inertia at midlife, wanting more from our lives, desiring clear goals, a purpose, and an opportunity to turn our dreams into reality or make a significant contribution to our community? If we take the plunge to leave the ease and familiarity of our farms in Kansas or we get blown away by the tornadoes churning through our economic environment, the characters walking the yellow brick road can give us insight for our survival. They can help us land on our feet, become adventurous explorers and discover our calling. The insights from Dorothy's story suggest:1)Create a clear picture, a vision, of what you want. Hold onto that vision through adversity and encounters with the wicked witch.2)Get started, venture out on the yellow brick road, even if you only begin with small steps.3)Explore the new terrain looking for new resources and contacts.4)Develop your support system with fellow travelers. Support their visions as they also support yours.5)Use resources you possess, your familiar skills and abilities...your own ruby slippers...to empower yourself to accomplish needed tasks in the unfamiliar setting.6)Remember that you have a brain to help you learn and meet new challenges.7)Use your heart...appreciate what you have. There is "no place like home". Figure out what or where "home" is for you and express your gratitude.8)Be courageous. This is the opportunity to discover your calling, rekindle purpose and meaning and turn your dreams into reality.9)And finally, believe in yourself. You can transform "Kansas", find your own yellow brick road, overcome the wicked witch and with passion and purpose create a vital and energizing script for the third act of your life. Article Tags: Yellow Brick Road, Dreams Into, Yellow Brick, Brick Road, Wicked Witch

Coping,with,Change,Mid-Life,Wh

DIY

Soil testing as important as oil changes are for engines

When you have a vehicle that you are driving a lot, you know that oil changes are something that you need to do on a regular basis to keep your vehicle in good condition. This is the same as soil testing. Soil testing ensures that your soil ...

DIY

Foam bitumen - Sustainable Eco-friendly Roads

Dont you think it will be great if we have eco-friendly roads that will be sustainable and durable as well? If there are roads that are not harming the environment anymore? This isnt just something that is for the future. There are countrie ...

DIY

Soil Testing: It’s all about that soil

Soil testing. The success of your harvest is all about the quality of the soil. And, the only way to ensure that you have the best soil, is to know what your soil needs.Many dont think that soil testing is needed. They are only adding nutrie ...

DIY

Mobile Work and Aluminum Platforms That Fit Your Needs

There are many domestic, trade and industrial applications where an extension ladder is the best and safest choice. Although many people try to make do with tall stepladders, most don't know it's hazardous to stand on the top work platform o ...

DIY

Truck Access Platforms That suitable for you

Looking to plan and specialist a few kinds of platforms that give your workers safe access to single or multiple hatches on an assortment of Tank Trucks. In the event that your administrators are as of now getting to the highest points of tr ...

DIY

How to Choose a Custom T-shirt Printing Company?

Be it a family event, a noble cause, company event, or personal interest, wearing custom t-shirts gives importance to it. The fame of personalized shirts is soaring high with this. More and more men and women are wearing custom shirts while ...

DIY

Moving Jurney By Interm Packers and Movers

They perceive the ins and outs of transferring so it's a protected option to allow them to deal with your whole belongings as a result of they'll do it proper and do it with care. When you might be in a predicament corresponding to not havin ...

DIY

Use a Vacuum Excavation for an Unearthing Project

You may very well get yourself that you have to utilise a vacuum excavation for an uncovering venture. This can be anything from disposing of a channel that is blocked or to penetrate a gap in the ground without harming the encompassing zone ...

DIY

Detailed Information about Non-Destructive Digging

At the point when you consider digging a gap in the ground, the principal thing that rings a bell is this ordinarily winds up a total wreckage around the gap.Be that as it may, there is one technique called non-destructive digging. This is t ...

DIY

A Complete Guide to buying a Vacuum Truck

Buying a vacuum truck are something that you should consider on the off chance that you are searching for another business opportunity. There are a few advantages to having this sort of business in the event that you have a completely prepar ...

DIY

Best Methods of Underground Cable Detection!

While we are continually fabricating and remolding properties, unearthing is unavoidable and can be attempted for an assortment of reason. What we are going to discover right now while playing out an exhuming, you should discover any undergr ...

DIY

Vacuum Trucks Can Deal with Exact Unearthing Needs!

Some intriguing data about vacuum trucks. That it will have the option to give in your precise excavation and drilling needs. You may imagine that those enormous trucks won't have the option to penetrate precisely, without harming anything a ...

DIY

Utility Locators - Locating Underground Cable

There are numerous reasons why it is imperative to locate underground cables. Also, if the Cables can't be found effectively, the fiasco will be immense and can be destroying.This is the reason you have to ensure that you know however much a ...

DIY

Important Information about Hydro Excavation

Hydro excavation is the way toward expelling or moving soil with pressurized water. An air movement or vacuum is then used to move the dirt or trash to a garbage tank. This takes into account a non-damaging and progressively exact approach t ...

DIY

Foam Bitumen - Lab Tests for Pavement Construction

Foam Bitumen. Something that you probably won't have found out about. All in all, for what reason would it be advisable for you to consider what the different lab tests on bitumen for asphalt development are? But on the off chance that you a ...

DIY

Soil Testing & analysing Is Worth the Effort

There's nothing of the sort as a free lunch, even in the nursery. Contingent upon your soil's local ripeness and what you develop, your plants may perform for quite a long time without requiring extra manure. Be that as it may, at some point ...

DIY

Soil Testing For Construction

Soil testing is a significant piece of building and street development. Truth be told, no development task can continue without first ensuring the soil can bolster the heap. Subsequently, the reason for soil testing for construction is to de ...

DIY

Soil Testing Services for Construction Projects

Regardless of whether you are building your fantasy home, making an expansion to your current home or building up a business property, there is one thing that is of most extreme significance, soil testing. There are various building consulta ...

DIY

Property Insurance

Property is Peoples HopeIt is not wrong to say that property is a hope and main aim of every person. People put all their efforts and then purchase some property for time ahead reliability and safety. This property is result of a long term s ...