Gorgeous Forties

My Desert Island Selections - Part 1

Marion Ryan says:

Well how spooky is that?  I was driving home from somewhere last Sunday, singing along to a song on a CD compilation of very old songs.  What was the song?  "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap!  You'd have to be a Gorgeous Forty to remember when that came out.

Suddenly I realised I was crying and God, it felt good.  It made me wonder what songs other Gorgeous Forties remember with such fondness that hearing them again after so many years would make them cry.

And the spooky bit was Jane Tilton blogging the very next day about Desert Island Discs (see below) which requires the week's guest to choose their top eight pieces of music (and books, Jane?) and Claire Raikes picking up on the idea and wanting to share her favourites too.

So how great would it be to share, perhaps, what we'd take to a desert island with us - our top 5 books, top 5 pieces of music and our one luxury item...

Surely I'm Too Young for the Big M?

Marion Ryan says:

Claire posted the other day about the menopause and though I still find this all a bit "nudge nudge wink wink", in our forties it's certainly a lot more relevant than it used to be.  And we're at an interesting age.  Some of us still getting pregnant, aligning ourselves with the younger generation, others getting menopausal and confronting our old(er) age.

I'm not an expert myself even though I think I'm three quarters of the way through it.  I was interested though to find the answer to Claire's question: surely I'm too young to be menopausal? 

Here's what I found out...

Girlfriends

Passed to me by my friend, Aly, and with no author's name intact so I'm afraid I can't acknowledge her.

Time passes
Life happens
Distance separates
Children grow up
Jobs come and go
Love waxes and wanes
Men don’t call when they say they will
Hearts break
Parents die
Colleagues forget favours
Careers end

BUT

Girlfriends are there
No matter how much time
And how many miles
Are between you.
A girlfriend is never farther away
Than needing her can reach.
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and
You have to walk it by yourself
Your girlfriends will be on the valley’ rim
Cheering you on
Praying for you, pulling for you
Intervening on your behalf
And waiting with open arms at the valley’s end.
Sometimes they will even break the rules and walk beside you
Or come in and carry you out.

Girlfriends, daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law
Mother, mother-in-law, aunties, nieces, cousins and extended family

Bless our life

The world would not be the same without them, and neither would I.

When we began this adventure called womanhood we had no idea of the
Incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead.
Nor did we know how much we would need each other

Or that every day we need each other still.

Be who you are and say what you feel
Because those who mind don’t matter
And those who matter, don’t mind.

A Chunk of Chocolate

Lorraine, one of my coaching clients, mentioned at the weekend that she was doing some decluttering, for which she would reward herself with some chocolate.  I casually asked her what sort of chocolate she liked and this was her response.  I'm reproducing parts of it - with her full consent - because I love to hear her passion and dedication to the subject, which incidentally she brings to every area of her life - her work, her horse racing and Elvis too!

"What a great subject for a chat! I love anything with milk chocolate in or on it! I am definitely a Cadburys girl...I love their purple wrapping...in fact whenever I see that colour I just think chocolate!

Friendship and False Teeth

Friendship's a funny old thing, isn't it?

I've just had my oldest friend to stay.  I don't mean she's a hump-backed old dear with a bus pass and false teeth but that she's been my pal for ever such a long time, almost thirty years I reckon.

If we'd been contestants on some Blind Date type of show we'd never have chosen each other in the first place.  She was the non-smoking teetotal sensible 'attached' semi-Welsh scientist.  She went to lectures by day and studied by night.

I, on the other hand was single and semi-Irish with the common sense of a plank of wood.  I smoked, drank and now and again, if I could find no-one to play with, would slope along to a lecture on Mediaeval French or Swahili morphology on the basis that I'd be bound to meet someone interesting in the student bar afterwards.

First Class Mum!

I travelled to Dublin yesterday, back to the village I lived in for several years before we moved to Tipperary, in order to sort out a bit of business.

Rather than go and sit for several hours on the car park that is the M50 in the rush hour, Jake and I took our time heading home and called in to see his former best pal whose mum, Pat, I first met in a parenting class just a few weeks after our boys started Junior Infants.

Pat told me that after four long years she'd finally finished her degree this summer.  She wondered if the effort had been worth it.  Four years of pizza dinners, she said!  Picking up her books to start studying when the children were in bed and finally closing them at 2 and 3 in the morning.

Time to Declare Independence?

I received this personal Declaration of Independence today in my inbox from Ken Donaldson. It was written by Tama J Kieves, the author of "This Time I Dance - Creating the Work You Love".  This isn't a book I've previously come across but if the following is a good example of her writing, then I could be hooked.

Happy Independence Day!

Tama's Declaration of Independence

This Independence Day, why not write your own Declaration of Independence?

What do you want to declare or break free from?
I want to break free from holding back my power.
I no longer want to live with only my low beams on. 
I want to shine so unequivocally that others decide to abandon their own shadow choices.

I received this personal Declaration of Independence today in my inbox from Ken Donaldson. It was written by Tama J Kieves, the author of "This Time I Dance - Creating the Work You Love".  This isn't a book I've previously come across but if the following is a good example of her writing, then I could be hooked.

Happy Independence Day!

Tama's Declaration of Independence

This Independence Day, why not write your own Declaration of Independence?

What do you want to declare or break free from?
I want to break free from holding back my power.
I no longer want to live with only my low beams on. 
I want to shine so unequivocally that others decide to abandon their own shadow choices.

Meet Marion Ryan

I'm a 'soft skills' training consultant and qualified coach. I work with intelligent professional women - business owners and managers usually - who while outwardly successful want something more from their work, health and relationships.

I'm analytical, resourceful, creative, non-judgemental, kind, curious and occasionally funny. I help clients achieve goals that stretch and excite them. I understand that life is tough and sometimes scary and I encourage them to find the solutions, not dwell on the problems.

I'm the author of an e-course called Flying Without Wings, a popular speaker and have featured regularly on the radio.

I'm married and though originally from London, these days I live in Tipperary, Ireland, with my 9 yr old son and ridiculous number of horses, cats and dogs. According to my birth certificate I'm 46 but presumably that's a mistake.

My vision for this year includes coaching 100 wonderful women, taking 3WW from strength to strength, writing my first book, becoming an accomplished skier and horse rider and having the time of my life!

www.marionryan.com
Love the Woman You Are, Become the Woman You'd Love to Be