We are never too old to try something new.

I put on skis in my 30's

I tried yoga in my 40's, and

I started painting in my 50's

I thought I would never enjoy going down a mountain with no handrails.  I was wrong.  Something happens when you persevere, choose to do your best and start by following excellent (and kind) instructors down slippery unknown terrain.

I thought I would never enjoy anything as much as running after my body was injured and in constant pain from overuse.  I was wrong.  I learned to breathe, stretch, and strengthen my body in a new way.  I gained a community of friends who enjoy taking care of themselves on many levels.

I thought I didn’t have a talented bone in my body.  I was wrong.  Something happens to you when you have a wonderful teacher and allow yourself to fall in love with what you are painting.  I learned that with practice, talent can blossom and grow in quite unexpected, amazing ways. Painting has opened my eyes to beauty, appreciating colors, hues, and shadows.  Wondering whether this photo or that will make a good subject for my next endeavor.

It’s never too late to expand our horizons. Winston Churchill wrote a wonderful book about painting, called Painting as a Pastime, in which he poetically describes a hobby that lifted him from depression and rewarded a nation with a treasure trove of work. Art Therapy has helped many suffering from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Being part of a creative process and making something which you and others can enjoy is healing for the mind, body, and soul.

Give something new a try.  You might be surprised by how much fun you have and what you learn and create in the process. Life can be an adventure, no matter how heavy things feel in any moment.  There is always the next breath and another vista if we are open to new possibilities. We are never too old unless we choose to be.

I love tiny homes and have even joined several 'Tiny Homes' Facebook groups.  Touring room by room through tiny homes inspires me and touches my heart.

Designing, building, or living in a tiny home takes creative problem solving: How to scale everything down to the bare essentials for economical and flexible living. Actually, it’s a lot more.

Tiny homes can be mobile, energy efficient and located in the most beautiful places.  It feels like the creators and designers of tiny homes tap into their inner knowing and create a small living area that suits a more pared down and way of life.

The tiny homes mirror their owners like our dogs, cats and horses mirror us.  Creators and designers of tiny homes seem to be genuinely curious with a love of exploring, finding interesting solutions and discovering new ways of being.

When you live in a tiny home you strip living down to the bare essentials, to the core of what you really need, and that appeals to me. 

And there's the same appeal with van life.  I love to watch how people have renovated vans, buses, emergency vehicles to be their home on wheels.  What they have to do to survive in the cold and heat, where they shower and wash up, how they cook and car for themselves, how they find places to park to the next or a week or several months, sometimes for free, the places they see, the adventure they have, how they make money on the road to take care of themselves and the ones that they love. 

There's a common thread, and it's one to ponder.  How would it be to get to the core of what we need to lead a content, fulfilled life.  What are we willing to give up?  What would or could we gain?  It's a fascinating line of inquiry to really know ourselves better and make changes to our lives, other ones besides these ones of course, that could change our experience of what life and living means.

Why do we beat ourselves up?  We are never going to be perfect.  We will continue to make mistakes; they are just opportunities to learn and grow.

And regarding mistakes, I have found something on my own personal journey that’s amazing. There are bits of me as a mom, daughter, and wife (for example) that I never loved.  I locked them away as bad and froze them in time. I avoided and denied that they existed because I was a 'good person'.

What I have found is that those trashed bits don’t go away.  They fester and pop up if not dealt with.

And the cool thing is that the cure is simple.  It’s all about acknowledgment, dropping the judgment and love. When we acknowledge these bits and stop judging them (really stop judging them, not just say we are) and when we sit with them in acceptance and love, magic happens.

It’s like pulling up a chair and sitting next to a crying child or upset teenager.  They may not want you to touch them or even speak, but your very presence helps.

Maybe it’s the first time this bit of us has been loved.  How cruel and arrogant of us to banish bits of ourselves from love. When we do so, we teach our children that bits of them are unlovable and unredeemable as well.  Children pick up on these things, even if the words are never spoken. They feel them in us and may be confused by our words that don’t match up.

Breathing is one of the primary signs of life. It is more important to us than almost anything else. If we need proof, we can ask ourselves the question, ‘Which am I willing to go without for an hour – breath, water, sunlight or food?’

Breathing has another significant function. It is a barometer read by our subconscious mind in an ongoing evaluation of our current life situation. When we feel threatened, we hold our breath or breathe shallowly. When we feel at peace we breathe fully and slowly.

Full, slow breathing sends a message of serenity to our body even when we are stressed, making it a simple, gentle yet powerful stress management tool.

Simple Breathing Techniques 

One simple breathing technique is to breathe in through the nose and out through the nose, with the out breath longer than the in breath.  When the out breath is longer, it signals the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system to relax, release, soften and let go.  It tells the body that it's safe and secure. 

Another simple breathing technique is to breath in through the nose and out through the mouth with a sigh, a deep "ahhhh" sound.  This is a great way to let go of your day, to release the anxiety and stress that you've been carrying around in your body and just let go. 

Another breathing technique is to breathe in through the nose and out through the nose with no pause between the in breath and out breath.  This technique is called Conscious Connected Breathing.  As we breathe in, before our lungs are full, we breathe out, and and we breath out before our lungs are empty, we breathe in. It becomes a beautiful cycle. 

As we focus on our breath and oxygenate our bodies, it's no problem is we have thoughts.  Just visualize and see your thoughts and big white fluffy clouds passing before you in a beautiful blue sky.  We see and acknowledge them and let them go. 

We can practice these breathing techniques anywhere, anytime.  As we make them a part of our lives, we retrain our body to let go of stress and to welcome calm assurance as an ongoing state of being.