Grey blessings: Living and loving life after age 50

I don't know about you but I am embracing my Third Chapter.  That next 25 years after age 50. I am in love with my grey hair, my wrinkles in weird places, my body size, my smile AND my teeth "replacements".  I am loving all that I am, especially my womanliness...my blackness.  

It is a marvelous thing to be this age as we look forward to the many adventures that are left to be experienced. All of those crazy life experiences of yesterday and today just might help somebody make it through.  All of those life experiences have shaped our opinions and have given us reason to support a cause, an agenda that may not always be popular or in that traditional way of thinking.  We dare to be different and can say that we are honestly glad that we are.

Loving the skin we are in and having the freedom to grow and learn and say within our heart of hearts that our faith is just that - OUR faith.  We know that we have a direct connection with God who hears our prayers and sees to our every need.  We know when we are living according to His divine plan for our lives and when we are not. Even if sometimes we don't understand why things gotta be a certain way, we know at the end of the day "...all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 KJV

Blessed beyond measure, we have so much left to give to the world. The word "success" has a whole new definition.  

10 Best Traits of people living rich and "successful" lives (Excerpt from PBS Next Avenue - Daily Roadmap, http://bit.ly/15qhifE )

1. They’ve mastered a lot of life lessons and they want to pass them on. So they look for opportunities to teach and mentor others.2. They’ve pinpointed a few causes they really care about, work at developing deep insights about them and donate their time and energy to them in the belief that they can help change things for the better. They don’t worry about whether they’re impacting a single individual or the world.
3. They are grateful for what they have and take steps to share it.
4. They are seekers and doers who are enthusiastic participants in life — they are fully engagedin work, play and relationships. 5. They have a hunger to keep learning — information, skills, fresh practices — to foster brain health and become better equipped to stay employed and contribute to society in fresh ways.
6. They have an open heart, build communities around them, forge and cherish connections with people of all ages and help others create nourishing bonds. 
7. They try to learn from their mistakes and take action to heal old wounds, smooth out past relationships and resolve regrets.
8. They think about life’s big questions, focus on being open-eyed and taking action to become more emotionally insightful.
9. They acknowledge difficulty but choose to believe in the possibility of positive outcomes and try to spread the happiness they cultivate.
10. They respect and take care of themselves. They are conscientious about making healthy food choices, exercising regularly and taking measures to reduce stress. They accept that they have a responsibility to cultivate physical and mental well-being and to protect and honor their bodies. Why? To make the most of their own lives and to ease the prospective future burdens on their loved ones.

Nuff said.