Activate your Core Values - determine your Purpose in Life

I am liking this journey through midlife! It feels more and more like I am listening to my heart and following my real passions but holy shit does it take courage. It takes confidence and lots of positive self-talk and support from loved ones and mentors. 

I believe to be happy and to find that balance in life; we need to understand what makes us tick. What do we need to be at our best? What turns you on and fills your soul so that you have buckets of confidence to swim upstream against the current?  

I have done a lot of soul searching over the years as I design my next 50. I am pretty confident I know what makes me tick, turns me on and keeps my heart full.  I know where I want to go and how I need to get there.  I have been told I am a sparkler, my openness to greatness is admirable and my inspiration of others is contagious.  (Oh and compliments go far so give them out freely and accept them back with grace).

A girlfriend shared a mantra that speaks loudly to the importance of taking control of your own life. 

"Gather all the facts-know where you are-know where you want to be-plan how to get there"  K. Little

Must say Danielle LaPorte and her daily truthbombs that pop into my inbox keep me on track and reinforces the tribe is out there. I also hold very close to my heart the supportive encouragement from my family, friends and mentors (many of which are female entrepreneurs). 

Sometimes we feel off track, not quite right and drained and so need to re-evaluate our Needs and Wants.  Needs are those things that you require to be your best. They can swing from emotional, social to physical. When these are missing, we can feel unfocused and unbalanced.  I know first hand if I am not feeding my soul and meeting my needs then my actions become mundane, sometimes killing the inner bubbling that feels like butterflies ...  

I worked with friends at UnleashDreams years ago to determine my purpose and my core values, which guide my choices on this journey called life.  I often turn to them for support, reminders of my needs. I became a Dream Maker myself so that I could also influence others. TheBoomerVine another place, I hope can inspire other boomers by sharing my authentic stories.  I really want to make a difference in the lives of others and inspire them to be more. 

I am being vulnerable here to share openly so that you can see what makes me tick!  

My Priceless

I have a contagious enthusiasm for connecting and leading teammates to a common goal while respecting differences.

My Purpose

To share my spirit and energy with others so that it creates smiles and activates a sense of playfulness, wonder and learning.

My Core Values

Foster the Spirit - energize and unite

Generate Kindness - give unconditionally

Continuous Improvement - welcome change 

Optimism - positivity reigns

Resiliency - never give up 

Are you doing what fills your heart or are you merely following the crowd?

Let me know if you want to jump out of the pond into the ocean and create a life by design. I want to be remembered for how I made you feel and maybe inspire you to be more. Everything else is gravy. 

Fire Away

I am listening to an amazing new band called Dawes as I fly home from an incredible weekend in Calgary during Stampede.

Again, another decision we made for which I have no regrets. A fun long weekend in Calgary to hang out with my amazing brother (and his amazing friends). We are an incredibly close family despite the physical distance in between. We are authentic. I have 2 sisters and 1 bro and 3 great "outlaws", a term, which my Mom lovingly refers to our husbands!  My Mom Mitzi happily watches and reaps the rewards and sucks in the love that we share. I feel incredibly fortunate and never do I take this for granted!  Don't wait for the right time, just do it....

We saw Dawes while in Calgary, a great band from LA who our grown kids introduced us all too. I love concerts.

We love music- all of us. One of the outlaws plays in a band and the others share stories of great old classic bands. We play the record game at our house - choose from our 100 or so records and take us back to the "good old days" as you play your favourite album on our turntable.  Our kids have all developed an appreciation for great music too. Our music jams in Vernon are unbelievable and memory makers. Mitzi sits on the Calhoun.

While in Calgary we also went to the OxfordStomp concert- Sam Roberts, George Thorogood, Sheryl Crow an all-afternoon/evening event with free beer, food, sunshine and dancing. We met some great Calgarians and like the friends we like to keep, have fun anywhere! "Leave people wanting more and always with a smile on their face".


A visit from my sister and one of the outlaws as they passed through Calgary themselves added another element of fun. (Missed my other sister and her "Tom Jones"). Couple great dinner parties, laughs, rodeo watching in some great VIP seats, music, late nights, Marda Loop Starbucks, dog walks and the consumption of some great wine!  We won't forget the "dispose a flask" (crazy husband)!


I feel full and bubbling over with appreciation for my life. My husband, my kids and my family. Dig deep and find yours too. It won't just come to you without a conscious effort. 

Oh and watch a little Dawes in the link below, such great music. You can get it on Google Music and Apple Music (both platforms I use).

Fire Away....

My new love affair.

Well that was NO Spa Utopia massage but let me tell you I am definitely awakened in a whole new way!  Bring it on...


Cracking open the honesty here, I had been suffering with a sore hip for some time and sleeping was grueling, I felt stiff and then it started affecting my hiking and my everyday activities. Despite trying to stretch and drink lots of water, and pretend it didn't hurt, I started feeling OLD. THE worst ever. With hockey coming up in the fall, I had to do something!

That was when my personal coach (aka my wonderful daughter who graduated in Kinesiology last year) introduced me to the blue foam roller.  If you have one and know about this, fine but for those of us who don't frequent the gym, boot camp or have personal trainers then you should know it is an odd thing.

The first time she told me to roll on it was awful.  Remember I am intimidated by Yoga, so even getting to the floor into the position on top of the roller was grueling and quite hilarious.  I thought she would die laughing, as my execution was anything but graceful! Apparently I needed to stretch  the fascia that surround my muscles.... ok, so lay this way and roll on the pain spot back and forth.  Good God it was so painful I squealed like a wild cat and sadly one of my kids has it on video. 

Hated it and avoided rolling despite her constant reminders.  

Until we intrinsically want to make change there is no hope.  I knew I had an issue and had to face it.  Growing old sometimes sucks.

Into the picture comes this wonderful kind and compassionate Registered Massage Therapist Holly at MoveoSport & Rehabilitation Centre whom I saw this week. I am an open book so she knew me in the first 10 min and she gained my trust instantly.  Yes the rolling apparently was a good thing but for me likely incredibly painful at the onset.  We needed to start slow (Plan B) and she spent 45 min working more then my sore hip muscle.  Apparently it's all related and she dove into my body with oily hands and nothing like at Spa Utopia.  OMG, its a technique where the RMT digs her thumbs into the upper fascia and I guess pushes the knot along.  She did this all over my body - gluts, calves, back etc.  Honestly I thought I would throw up, but she coached me in her sweet gently voice, "it's good, it's doing the work we need and I can stop at anytime".  At one point I had to divert my mind and started counting down from 100, then I was imagining myself at the beach, but I have to say Holly coached me along and explained everything she was doing.  

She encouraged me that my own active lifestyle was enough (well above the average) and that for me, at my age; I was doing the right things.  This was all I needed to hear. She commented that my body was responding well and loosing up quickly because of my active lifestyle and it was making a difference in my healing.  She couldn't comment on how I got so tight, but I guess the blue roller will be in my future.

We talked Yoga and the lack of places supporting newbies and those who don't fit the "typical image".    She did give me a referral to Yoga teacher who might be a fit. I shared with Holly my passion for helping other Boomers by sharing my stories.  She too supports healthy living and Moveo will consider working more with Boomers like me to maybe facilitate hiking groups for those wanting to be active, social and learn a little more how they can proactively avoid the blue roller!  They already volunteer at bike races, so this would potentially be just another target group they could gain trust with.  

I have 2 more sessions booked with Holly and I can't wait.  I did my homework today with the tennis ball and I committed to both (she and my in-house Kin coach) that I would see this as a lifestyle change and take charge.  

Looks like I might be having a new love affair with the blue roller.   Like all relationships it will have peaks and valleys and pain along the way but with commitment comes happiness.

The changing face of my Pleasantville

So scary when I hear people talking about retirement - it freaks me out in a number of ways. Primarily because it might mean that my friends and my community will become dispersed as people are starting to sell their homes as they venture into their next 50.  The houses are sold only days after the sign is posted and large empty mansions are replacing the quaint family ranchers.

The face of the community is definitely changing and I can't say I like.  I don't like my grey hair either but it's my reality!

The houses in my community 20 years ago were filled with young families and young kids attending the local preschools (I taught at one of them for many years).  Peter Rabbit was filled with little ones clutching their own change to buy 5 cent candy (fuzzy peaches, sour keys) after school while some of their Mom's sat on the bench outside the one local coffee shop planning the next school fundraiser.  We were all balancing our lives with work, volunteerism and family.  I felt we were united.  We would host community adult baseball games (where the kids had to watch their parents) and camped together as families! To date, many of us celebrated turning 40 then 50, play on the community duffers hockey teams (Sliverbacks, Silverbellies and Stanley Cupcakes) and celebrate family university kid send off parties.  We have grown up together and I want to grow old together.

I love my community we call Pleasantville.  It is located at the base of the beautiful North Shore mountains.

If we sell our homes where would we go?

It wasn't until I read an article and posted on my social media channels, did I realize that others in my community were concerned about what retirement looked like to them as well and where they would they go?

In this story, four couples that were best friends over 20 years decide to invest in their friendship and land and work with architect Matt Garcia to build their own mini-town. They pooled their money and bought land near Llano River in Texas building 400 square foot home at a price tag of $40K each.  There are so many stories of similar boomer co-housing communities popping up which were first popular in Europe.

The new model looks more like something between the single-family world and the hippie communes.  Mostly boomers and empty-nesters, come together with their own unit but sharing resources.  I would get Jim West to design and construct it.  Our pal Kim Little could provide us with coach houses.  We might be on a vineyard, in a warm climate which had a common area fire pit, sports court, bar and on-site physio and a shared caregiver.  We might use golf carts or bikes as our transportation and maybe eat from a community garden.  There would be music, laughter and maybe a dance floor.  No idea would be a bad one and many of us would continue to dabble in self-employment just for fun.

We would be around friends and likeminded.

This would be my new Pleasantville.

Identify your strengths and stick to them!

It was a actually many moons ago I found myself in a transition and faced with the reality that I had to articulate my strengths and for that matter, my weaknesses during the typical dreaded interview.  You know the moment that you find yourself face to face with the gatekeeper to the organization.....

Heck, we all have a resume and as someone who is continually moving along a planned path of continuous improvement and driving for new personal challenges both in life and in my work, my resume is constantly changing.  I struggle to keep it updated and prefer the amazing world of LinkedIn.

I was tired of living in a world where the focus was on our weaknesses and we had to find ways for self improvement.  I think focusing on our weaknesses sucks energy from us when we could be feeding our soul and celebrating the things that we do well.  Our strengths are what fill us and truly are what we do that makes us the happiest.  Living our passion is usually living and doing the things we love that don't feel like work.  It is those things we generally dislike that make us weak and suck the good energy out.

I decided to focus on my strengths and in my work to find opportunities to share them and truly celebrate them for they are what makes me shine as a leader and a happy contributing adult. I've even given the book to my kids and new university grads.

A very special mentor gave me this book for she knew we shared the same values and that it would help launch me further into my passion.

Here's my strengths.... and they are DEAD on, especially the Woo!  
(compare with your peers and share on your resume and LinkedIn) 

Positivity - always on the look out for the positive in any situation 
Woo - win others over and you are drawn to strangers
Communication - like to explain, public speak and write to get people to listen
Activator - when can we start rarely waiting for the green light
Arranger - jump into confusion, devise new options, hunt new paths

Check out the author Tom Rath and the website.  There is even a book for kids.
www.StrengthsFinder.com

We never know the impact we have on our world ..... until we are gone.

We never know the impact we have on our world until we are gone.

It was a magical afternoon.  In fact, it was the day of her birthday celebration.  She would have been 51. The room was filled with familiar faces from the community where she worked to the bright young women (and their families) with whom her daughters played sport.  People of all ages and from all stages of her life were gathered, some seated while many were standing, overflowing into the hall.  They were all people she touched during her precious years with us.  Her husband sat in the front gazing out the window (wiping the odd tear) beside his two beautiful girls who remained stoic.  

The setting was beautiful looking out onto the golf course. A little bit of fog and then during the speeches a little wet Vancouver rain.  The room was overflowing with abundant love.

I sat beside my daughter.  I wished my husband and son were with us.  You see, this woman not only touched the lives of those in the room, but many that couldn’t attend.  Her girls are friends with our two university kids and my husband and I had the honour of cheering from the sidelines at many sporting events in our community alongside this beautiful woman.  I only regret not speaking with her more.  Often we get caught up in our own lives, we forget to take the time to be present in our own world.

She was only 50 when she left us and we will never understand why but we know she left the world a better place and touched the lives of many.  Her immediate friends (soul sisters) were all there and you could tell they too were broken with the loss, but now gain strength by holding onto the memories and good times they shared.  The stories they told were precious and joked that most of the themes spoken were about drinking wine and dog walking together.  We will never know the impact of this loss on the family dog as well.

A slide show to Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely shared with us her wonderful life and adventures travelling. The pictures told the stories and the smiles drew us into the warmth of those experiences.   There were many smiles of she and her family and friends and I could feel her joy. She was a beautiful woman with a beautiful family.

My heart broke (and my tears ran down my face) when her daughter spoke with such grace and pride, yet I gained strength as I listened to her thank her Mom for all that she had provided to she and her sister.  She spoke about appreciation for giving them endless opportunity in their sport, the numerous times she supported as a cheerleader from the sidelines, or driving to practice.  She described those deep conversations (the kind we can only have with our children) and the impact they had on her personal growth.   She described the tears they shared in both good times and sad.  She thanked her for helping build she and her sister into the strong women they have become today.   She promised to her Mom that she would be strong without her at her side during her university graduation, wedding and other milestones in her life.  Without hesitation, she said her strength today and as goes on with her life, is because she knows her "Mommy" will always be with her in spirit.

Her smile now shines through the two beautiful girls she has left behind. 

Her impact from today will empower many to live life and love with all that you can.  

No Regrets.