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Staying Flexible After Fifty: 10 Activities That Will Help!

Staying Flexible After Fifty: 10 Activities That Will Help!

by Patti Huck | HEALTH & EXERCISE, MIND & BODY

As women age, maintaining flexibility becomes increasingly important for maintaining overall health and wellness. Flexibility refers to the ability of muscles and joints to move freely through a range of motion, and it plays a crucial role in preventing injury, maintaining good posture, and preserving mobility. In this post, we will explore the role of staying flexible afer fifty, with suggestions for some lifestyle activitie as we age.

The Role of Flexibility in Aging Women

As women age, the body naturally loses muscle mass and flexibility, which can make it more difficult to perform everyday tasks and engage in physical activity. This loss of flexibility can also contribute to a range of health problems, including back pain, arthritis, and poor posture.

Maintaining flexibility is particularly important for women, as they are more prone to osteoporosis, a condition that causes bones to become weak and brittle. In addition to increasing bone density, regular stretching can help improve balance and coordination, which can reduce the risk of falls and related injuries.

Lifestyle Activities to Stay Flexible

There are a variety of lifestyle activities that can help women stay flexible as they age. Here are some suggestions:

 

        • Yoga: Yoga is an excellent way to improve flexibility, balance, and strength. Practicing yoga regularly can help improve joint mobity and reduce pain and stiffness.
        • Walking: Walking is a low-impact exercise that can help improve flexibility and joint mobility. Aim for at least 30 miutes of brisk walking each day.
        • Swimming: Swimming is a low-impact exercise that is ideal for women who may have joint pain or limited mobiity. Swimming can help improve overall flexibility and range of motion.
        • Stretching: Incorporating regular stretching into your daily routine can help improve flexibility and range of motion. Focus on stretching major muscle groups such as the  hamstrings, hips and shoulders.
        • Dancing: Dancing is a fun and effective way to improve flexibility and joint mobility. Dancing can also help improve balance and coordination.
        • Pilates: Pilates is a low-impact exercise that focuses on improving flexibility, balance, and core strength. Pilates can be especially helpful for women who may have back pain or other joint problems.
        • Tai Chi: Tai Chi is a gentle form of exercise that combines slow, flowing movements with deep breathing. Tai Chi can help improve flexibility, balance, and overall physical and mental well-being.
        • Gardening: Gardening is a great way to stay active and improve flexibility. Gardening involves a range of movements, including bending, reaching, and squatting, which can help improve joint mobility.
        • Massage: Regular massage can help improve flexibility by increasing blood flow to the muscles and reducing tension and stiffness.
        • Meditation: Meditation is a great way to reduce stress and improve overall well-being. Medication can also help improve flexibility by promoting relaxation and reducing muscle tension.

The Role of Flexibility in Aging Women

Aside from the above lifestyle activities that will help improve your flexibility, there are also some specific exercises and stretches that will help you improve and maintain your flexibility…

1. First on the list is Gentle Yoga. Yoga is a great way to improve flexibility and is a low-impact exercise that is ideal for older women.

I found an online class on YouTube that’s absolutely free! (I put a screenshot of the class below). You can click to preview it first to make sure it’s something you’d like to and are able to do, or you can get your comfy clothes on, grab a cushion or yoga mat and start right in. 

Please know that when you click the button you’ll be taken out of this blog post and into YouTube to watch the video. So I’d suggest you finish reading this post, go change into comfy clothes, and then click the button to do this 30-minute gentle yoga session.  

Click Here to To Watch This Class on YouTube

Flexibility Stretches

The names of each of the stretches below are linked to a visual demonstration of the stretch. Just click the Pink stretch name.

1. Cat and Cow Stretch  Instruction: Get on all fours and alternate between arching your back, and rounding it. This exercise improves spine mobility and flexibility.

2. Hamstring Stretch  Instruction:  Sit on the edge of a chair or bench with one leg extended and the other foot on the floor. Reach forward to stretch the hamstrings.

3. Quad Stretch  Instruction: Stand with one hand against a wall for balance and bend the other leg behind you, holding the ankle to stretch the quadriceps.

4. Shoulder Roll  Instruction: Stand or sit and roll the shoulders forward, backward and up and down. This exercise improves shoulder flexibility.

5. Calf Stretch  Instruction: Stand facing a wall and place one foot forward, keeping the heel on the ground and the other foot back, holding the ankle for a calf stretch.

6. Butterfly Stretch  Instruction: Sit with the soles of the feet together and use your elbows to gently press down on your knees, stretching the inner thighs.

7. Seated Spinal Twist Instruction: Sit on a chair and twist the torso to one side, then the other. This exercise improves spinal mobility and flexibility.

8. Side Bend  Instruction: Stand with feet hip-width apart and gently bend to one side and then the other, reaching towards the toes. This exercise improves flexibility on the sides of the torso.

9. Hip Flexor Stretch: Instruction: Kneel on one knee with the other foot in front of you, and gradually lean forward, keeping the back straight. This exercise improves hip flexibility.

In Conclusion…

Maintaining flexibility is essential for women as we age. Incorporating regular exercise, stretching, and other lifestyle activities into our daily routine can help improve flexibility, reduce the risk of injury, and promote overall health and wellness. By taking care of our bodies and minds, we can stay active and vibrant as we age.

 

Please Note: Women Over Fifty Network is an authorized Amazon affiliate. This means that I may get a small commission on qualified products that you purchase through my link. My commission is based on the product’s listed purchase price, and is not an extra cost to you.

Just a Note…

I love stretching and I love walking. I challenged myself last year to walk, outside, every day for a year. After the first attempt was cut short by a broken ankle, I restarted after it healed, and I did it!  I felt amazing.

There were two things I wore that I absolutely loved and am still wearing when I walk. So I wanted to recommend them to you. I live in Washington state, so I walked in heat and cold, rain, snow and ice,, and they carried me through it all and are holding up beautifully…STILL!.

I just published a product recommendation on my favorite yoga pants (just click image to read), and those HOKA shoes? Bullet-proof. They’re amazing! These are my two favorite ‘fitness’ items  ⇒⇒⇒

Best Shoes I've Ever Owned!
HOKA ONE ONE Clifton 8 Womens Shoes Size 7.5, Color: Black/White HOKA ONE ONE Clifton 8 Womens Shoes Size 7.5, Color: Black/White
$190.00

These shoes are sooooo comfortable! I was hesitant to purchase them because they're a bit spendy, but I'm so glad I did. They have held up beautifully, and I have worn them in all kinds of weather. They carried me through my goal of walking every day for a year. That was three years ago, and they STILL are going strong. Highly recommend!!!

My Rating:
4.8
Buy Now on Amazon
If you should decide to purchase this product, I may receive a small comission (at no extra cost to you).
10/25/2024 06:02 pm GMT

Best Shoes I’ve Owned!

Hands Down!

BEST Yoga Pants with Phone Pockets for Women Over Fifty

BEST Yoga Pants with Phone Pockets for Women Over Fifty

by Patti Huck | Jul 16, 2023 | HEALTH & EXERCISE, RECOMMENDATIONS

I’d love to have you subscribe to my blog! I write not only about ketones, but about all thing pertaining to women baby boomers. I do all I can to connect women over fifty with each other. You can visit Women Over Fifty Network HERE and poke around a bit first, or you can just subscribe below.

BEST Yoga Pants with Phone Pockets for Women Over Fifty

BEST Yoga Pants with Phone Pockets for Women Over Fifty

by Patti Huck | HEALTH & EXERCISE, RECOMMENDATIONS

BEST Yoga Pants with Phone Pockets for Women Over Fifty

Hey you amazing, strong women!

I’m so excited to share these yoga pants with phone pockets with you as my very first product recommendation. I. Love. These. Pants!

So why, out of the blue, am I suddenly sounding like a product rep for yoga pants? Well, I have recently decided to start writing Amazon product recommendations for products that I’ve purchased and love. I buy a lot of products, and because I do, I’ve discovered a lot of products I absolutely love. I don’t want to be pushy, but I really feel like other women my age might really love them too.

So I decided to start sharing them with you by writing product recommendations for some of my favorites, and this one is my first.

I know you all are probably just as busy as I am, so I opted out of writing the traditional ‘product review’ (rating the product by pointing out good and bad) to keep from wasting your time, and will be going straight to the “oh my god this is the coolest thing EVER!” ‘recommendation’ post. I’ll still continue writing regular blog posts, and have a backlog of them to post. I don’t want you to think that my ADD has kicked in and I’m jumping ship here.

Short and Sweet

If you know me, even barely know me, you know that on rare occasions I may have a tendency to get just a little bit wordy. So when I do my recommendations, I’m going to try to keep things short and sweet. K?

Also, although it’s posted several places on my site, I just want to make sure you’re aware that I’m an Amazon Associate, so if you should purchase any product I recommend through a link to Amazon, I will make a small commission. And to be clear, my commission doesn’t raise your purchase cost of the product.

Okay. Let’s Get Started!

Like I said above, I’m going to try to edit myself and keep things short and sweet, which means I need to cut down on my narratives.

I’ve added notes with the images. The images will give you a good idea of what these look like in real life, and be sure to watch the video at the end that will give you a good idea of  the stretch and closer look of the fabric.



Wide Waistband.

No Rolling!

The wide waistband keeps it from rolling when you bend over (I hate that!), and it’s just snug enough to help keep your tummy flattened out.



Flattering Fit.

They're Very Forgiving.

I’ve had these pants for about two years. I wear them a LOT. I’ve gained and lost weight, as most of us do, and they still have the same hold & stretch as when I got them.



Comfortable.

Not Just For Exercise.

I’m not kidding when I say these are comfy. I put a cute top and some flip flops with these and wear them for everyday use.



Well Made.

Durable Construction

I love the stitching pattern on these. The stitching has not frayed in the least…anywhere! There is no thinning in the fabric, no tears, and no snags.



Hold Their Shape

Stretchy, but Don't Get Baggy.

These pants s-t-r-e-t-c-h like crazy, but they go right back to their shape. Washing, drying, me growing, then shrinking, and still they maintain their shape.



Phone Pockets

Deep, Secure Pockets

The large pockets will accommodate all size phones. They stretch to allow your whole hand to get your phone in and out, and deep enough that your phone is secure.

Quick Note…

As I was writing this, just out of curiousity, I pulled up my past orders on Amazon. I bought these pants on June 8, 2020.

I’ve worn them for four years, not two, as I had said above. All of the pictures for this blog post are current…taken about two months ago.

It’s pretty amazing if you look at the pictures of my 4-yr-old pants in this post, (and I’ve worn them a lot!), and then go look at the brand new ones on Amazon. When you compare them, I’d say these babies have held up pretty darn well!

In Summary…

So in summary, in case I wasn’t clear, I highly recommend these. They’re one of my very favorite purchases. I also have the same ones, same pattern, in the capris.

You should get some! We’d be twins.

Send pictures and I’ll add them to this post! (I’m totally serious).

I was writing this, just out of curiousity, I pulled up my past orders on Amazon. I bought these pants on June 8, 2020.

I’ve worn them for four years, not two, as I had said above. All of the pictures for this blog post are current…taken about two months ago.

It’s pretty amazing if you look at the pictures of my 4-yr-old pants in this post, (and I wore them a lot!), and then go look at the brand new ones on Amazon. When you compare them, I’d say these babies have held up pretty darn well!

Please Note: Women Over Fifty Network is an authorized Amazon affiliate. This means that I may get a small commission on qualified products that you purchase through my link. My commission is based on the product’s listed purchase price, and is not an extra cost to you.

 

Thank you for reading my product recommendation. Watch for new blog posts that I’ll be posting soon, as well as new recommendations of my latest purchases. Oh, and did I mention I love gadgets? Prepare yourself. My hubby calls me the ‘gadget queen’.

To see a few of the products I’ve used that I’ve deemed sharable, take a little look-see through my store. I add to it frequently!

 

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You might also like these…

My Favorite Exercise Pants!
Women's High-Waist Yoga Pants
Women's High-Waist Yoga Pants
$27.99

I have several colors and patterns, & all have held up well. 3 Pockets. Stretchy, comfy, and the high waist 'tummy control' holds in a poochy tummy!

My Rating:
4.8
Buy Now on Amazon
I earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
02/23/2025 10:08 am GMT
My Favorite Exercise Pants
High Waist Yoga Pants
High Waist Yoga Pants
$28.98 $24.98
  • Tummy Control
  • for Workout or Running
  • 3 Pockets (one on each leg, one inside waistband)

I have these in several colors and patterns. I've been wearing them for a few years, and they hold up really well. Stretchy, comfy, and the high waist helps hold in a poochy tummy! - by Dragon Fit

Buy Now on Amazon
I earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
02/22/2025 12:42 pm GMT

One Size Fits…None. The Dressing Room From Hell.

One Size Fits…None. The Dressing Room From Hell.

by Patti Huck | AGING, LIVING | 1 comment

One Size Fits…None. The Dressing Room From Hell.

Hey all!

I’m thrilled to be sharing this post with you! You know how much I love connecting you with other women over fifty bloggers, right? Well, let me introduce you to Marcia Kester Doyle. Marcia writes about all the pitfalls of aging on her blog “Menopausal Mother“, but helps us laugh about them. She was kind enough to let me share a chapter from her book “Who Stole My Spandex? Life in the Hot Flash Lane“. I’m pretty sure you’re going to love Marcia.

Be sure to comment below to let her know if you can relate to her experience going clothes shopping!

GUEST BLOGGER: Marcia Kester Doyle

Marcia, a humor blogger, muses on the good, the bad, and the ugly side of midlife mayhem. Give her a glass of wine and a jar of Nutella, and she’ll be your best friend. It’s rogue humor at it’s finest!

She is a BlogHer Voice of the Year 2014 recipient and VoiceBoks Top Hilarious Parent Blogger 2014. She was also voted as a Top 25 Blogger in the Circle of Moms Contest 2013. She is a native Floridian and married mother of four children, as well as being a grandparent to a feisty toddler

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One Size Fits None. The Dressing Room From Hell

I hate shopping for clothes, which explains why I’ve never been accused of being a fashionista. It also explains why my daughters always call to ask what I’m wearing before bringing their friends over to the house.

After birthing four babies by C-section, I now find shopping for clothes less enticing than a root canal. I might enjoy it more if I was twenty-five pounds lighter, because shopping just isn’t as fun when I have to head straight for the Woman’s Plus department, where everything comes in black, white, or shower-curtain pattern.

My husband often accompanies me during my clothes hunting expeditions, usually because he is: a) bored with all five hundred cable channels, b) in need of replenishing his tube sock collection, or c) wanting to make sure I don’t spend all my cash on animal-print house dresses and takeout from Burger Barn. He parks his butt on a sofa outside the changing rooms and plays with his phone while I’m pondering the age-old question of zippers versus control-top panels.

I try to be frugal while I shop, but the problem with the clearance section is that there are only two clothing sizes left on the rack by the time I get there—hummingbird and mastodon. It’s always a challenge to find an outfit that doesn’t leave me looking like the exploding dough from a tube of Pillsbury crescent rolls.

It’s the same adventure every time I go shopping. I shoot past the regular lingerie (like I’ll ever be able to squeeze myself into a hot fuchsia number the size of a rubber band) to the “Full Figure” aisle, where the bras hang like double-boulder slingshots. Then I whiz past the shoe section, jewelry department, and all those adorable maternity outfits. I think, “Oh, look at the cute, faux-denim stretch pants designed to hide a pregnancy bump!” before self-consciously rubbing my stomach. Nope, no baby in there—just the jelly roll the last kid left behind.

Once I’m able to find a dress that doesn’t resemble a large paint tarp, I grab a few more items (twelve, actually, because I have no idea what the size du jour is going to be—I need a sampler platter of three different sizes for each outfit). I then head for the dreaded dressing room with an armload of clothes that will most likely end up back on the rack. It’s always at this moment that I wish I lived in the 1500s, where everyone bought one-size-fits-all clothing from Dirty Smocks “R” Us, and dressed by dim candlelight to mask the effects of a stout-and-potato diet.

I’m wary of stepping into dressing rooms because I know there are some shoppers who use these cubicles for more than just trying on clothes. I know this because several of my children have worked in major department stores over the years, and they’ve shared a few nightmare tales that have scarred me for life. Department stores should consider posting helpful signs to keep paranoid people like me from worrying about stepping into DNA samples left by the previous occupants. The signs could flash messages like “FECAL-FREE ZONE!” or “MOTEL 6 IS DOWN THE STREET … THEY’LL LEAVE A LIGHT ON FOR YOU!”

Wishing to God for a shot of liquid courage before I enter the “chamber of truth,” I stall by the clearance rack for a few more minutes, until a skinny, perky salesclerk approaches me. She asks if I’m ready to try on my new clothes, and her chipper tone sets my teeth on edge. Can’t she see I’m breaking into a sweat over the fact that my actual dress size is about to be revealed?

I’m ushered into a mirrored cubicle the size of Thumbelina’s closet, and told to “have fun” while trying on the clothes. Have fun? The only way that would ever happen is if the dressing room included a well-stocked mini fridge. No, this is where the true horror begins. I shimmy out of my old, comfortable clothes and cringe as I view myself in panoramic funhouse mirrors that display my front, back, and sides. I’m immediately reminded of a peeled potato.

Concluding that the department store must have gotten a really good deal on mirrors from a traveling circus, I weed through my pile of clothing. One floral-print dress is reminiscent of something my grandmother wore in 1939. An orange blouse makes me look like an Oompa Loompa. An ill-fitting pair of jeans causes my flesh to ooze out over the waistband like Play-Doh. To make matters worse, I’m having to struggle into all of this torturous clothing under unflattering fluorescent lights that expose every fold, flap, bulge, and scar bestowed upon my body by childbirth and years of yo-yo dieting.

I decide on a few items of clothing that promise to lift, tuck, flatten, and flatter the body, and I notice that everything I’ve chosen is: a) made of NASA-approved spandex and b) one shade—black. So what if I end up with a bag of clothing resembling a mortician’s closet?

I approach the checkout counter, and it never fails—there’s always an angry woman ahead of me shouldering three returns and a missing receipt. To top it all off, she was clearly once the president of her high school debate team. My eye starts twitching as she engages in refund warfare with the young girl behind the cash register. Obviously neither one of these women knows that I’m already two hours late to walk a dog known for his daily bouts of IBS.

Once home, I face the daunting task of cleaning out old clothes to make room for the new. I’m a firm believer in recycling, and have found some creative ways to repurpose my granny panties with a needle and thread. With a garbage bag full of threadbare underpants and a few quick stitches, I can make an outdoor patio umbrella, a tent for camping trips, or an heirloom quilt for the grandkids.

I try the new clothes on again in the privacy of my own bedroom, but they don’t look as good as they did in the dressing room. This just confirms what I’ve believed all along—that department store mirrors are designed to make every woman appear as shapely as an hour glass. When I look in my own mirror at home, all I see is a potato dressed up in a shower curtain. A black shower curtain.

Chances are good that I’ll be returning all of my one-size-fits-none clothing to the mall—but only after a quick stop at the Burger Barn.

The Dressing Room From Hell | Women Over Fifty Network
Marcia has written for The Huffington Post, Humor Outcasts, In the Powder Room, and What The Flicka. 

She has been featured on numerous sites such as Scary Mommy, BlogHer, The Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop, Midlife Boulevard, Boomeon, and BA50 among others.

She is a contributing author to the following books: The Mother of All Meltdowns, Clash of the Couples, Motherhood: May Cause Drowsiness, Sunshine After the Storm, To Bliss and Back, Parenting Gag Reel, and will be featured in the forthcoming anthologies: Surviving Mental Illness Through Humor, Mom for the Holidays, and How Can You Laugh at a Time Like This?

Who Stole My Spandex? Life In The Hot Flash Lane is available on Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback formats.

Click Here to Get Your Copy Now on Amazon!
Inside The Mind of a Perfectionist-Part 2: 11 Personality Traits of Perfectionism.

Inside The Mind of a Perfectionist-Part 2: 11 Personality Traits of Perfectionism.

by Patti Huck | PERFECTIONISM, PERSONALITIES | 2 comments

Inside The Mind of a Perfectionist-Part 2: 11 Personality Traits of Perfectionism.

We’re Talking About Perfectionism…

This is part two of a two-part blog series about the misconception of a perfectionist being someone who does everything effortlessly and perfectly…umm…wrong. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, click here real quick to get up to speed, then meet us back here. We’ll wait.

In Part 1, we identified six traits:

  1. You have trouble relinquishing control.
  2. You are driven…sometimes to obsession.
  3. You have difficulty making decisions.
  4. You need to be productive and never waste time.
  5. You procrastinate (having trouble getting started)
  6. You say “Should” a lot (you have demanding standards for yourself & others)

Let’s move on to discover the remaining 5 traits of perfectionism.

(Click the black + in each of the blue boxes below to see explanations of each personality trait)

“Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for ‘better than yesterday’.”
― Izey Victoria Odiase

In Part 1, we left off with me being frustrated that I hadn’t felt like writing a blog I needed to write. Do you think I got it together and ended up writing it the next day?

Nope. I wasn’t ready.

I didn’t have all the information I needed to do it right. If I didn’t write it, I couldn’t fail. So I didn’t write the blog that day.

I didn’t write it the next day either. Then we went out of town for a few days. When we came back, I had to catch up, so I didn’t write one that week. Maybe I needed to rethink the angle I was taking. I might go a different direction with it. I decided to do it next week when I was more prepared.

Trait #7. You Procrastinate (have trouble finishing)

You’re never completely confident that you’ve included every detail that you feel is important. There’s always that ‘one more thing’ to add that would make it “perfect” and in your mind feel complete.

You don’t like to fail at anything, so you tend to have trouble wrapping things up to instead “think about it a little longer”, or “do it better”. If you don’t finish, you avoid the possibility of being judged, but by continuing to delay the completion, you’re causing yourself additional anxiety.

Let’s talk about cleaning house

When my husband and I were dating we lived three hours from each other and spent a lot of time on the phone. We shared so many of the same interests it was uncanny, but when it came to our personalities and how we went about doing things, we were polar opposites.

One night during one of our phone calls when he told me he’d been vacuuming, I remembered him telling me the night before that he’d just finished dusting. I thought he might be some kind of clean freak, so I asked him what was up. He said he cleaned a little bit every night…tub and toilet one night, kitchen floor the next, etc.

To me (a perfectionist) that was just plain weird. If you mop the kitchen floor and the rest of the kitchen has to wait four days to be cleaned, the floor’s dirty again. Your house is never completely clean. If I can’t clean the house completely and thoroughly, I just “pick up” until I can. He goes to the store for one or two items several times during the week. I go once and shop for the week. He reads a couple pages of his book each night. I’ll stay up half the night to finish a book.

Trait #8: You have an "all or nothing" attitude

You think in extremes. You’re either all in, or you’re not in at all. You rarely dip your toe in. If you can’t do your best work, you don’t want to do it at all. If you don’t have all the tools you need for a project, you’re not likely to “make do” with the tools you have – it has to look like the picture, or it’s not good enough.

If you can’t catch on quickly to something you’re trying to learn, you’re likely to abandon it – if you can’t do something well, you’d rather not do it at all. 

This trait sucks when you’re attempting to kick a habit, ie. when I smoked. I’d go three days without a cigarette, and on day four when I caved and had one, I chose to smoke that whole pack and quit “fresh” the next day. Cold-turkey, no tapering off. Same with dieting. I’d do well for a week, fall off the wagon with one bowl of ice cream, spend the next week eating everything I’d been craving, then re-start my diet on Monday.

You’re hard on yourself

You’re not only hard on yourself, but on others. You expect a lot of yourself and others. You’re the first one to notice a spelling error. If you should make a spelling error yourself, you’re mortified.

Here comes the differences again between my hubby and I. When there’s something that needs doing at the house, a lot of times he’ll just get it done. Usually while he’s busy getting it done, I’m at my desk checking ideas on Pinterest, and then planning out the best way to go about it. I get annoyed at him because I feel he rushed through it and did a half-assed job. He gets annoyed at me for always over-thinking everything, and feels no matter what he does, it won’t be right. (We actually get along really well although I know I’m not making it sound that way 🙂 )

Trait #9: You can be overly critical

You’re usually the one to take on more than you can handle…but you give others the impression you can. Sometimes you take on extra tasks because you’re not confident others will do the job well enough. 

You don’t like making mistakes, and you’re disappointed in yourself when you make them. You’re critical (not always verbally, but in your head) of others doing a task poorly, and can easily get annoyed when  they make mistakes. You sometimes have unrealistic expectations and are always striving for perfection. It’s all about the end result. 

To-do lists are your friend

Do you make to-do lists? They’re helpful, right? I agree. I write  a bullet list every night of things I need to get done the following day. Once I complete something from my list, I highlight it in yellow.

We all know though that unexpected things pop up every day. So there’s a joke at our house. When I finish a chore, my hubby says, “Was that on your list? You better add it!” I realize that this is the most ridiculous thing ever, but it’s true. If I do something that wasn’t on my list, I actually do write it down just so I can highlight it as having done it. I love seeing my list at the end of the day with all my items highlighted in yellow.

Trait #10: You like precision

You have a very specific way you feel things should be done. You like order and consistency. You can scan something quickly and pick out the errors. You’re like a living, breathing “one of these things is not like the other” game. 

Your attention to detail comes in to play here. When decorating, you may move a piece of furniture a dozen times until it lines up with all the angles in the room and  your eye tells you it’s “just right”. 

This trait overlaps with Trait #11 below. Organization. Orderliness. Precision. Bottom line…you’re verrrrry picky.

How’s this for being overly concerned about details…

Perfectionists have “rules” they follow. They may not even realize they’re doing it. I know in my case, it’s not something I consciously do. It’s just the way my brain works. It’s like this:  Pretend I’m decorating my mantel. I’ll try it one way, then stand back…”nope”. I make some adjustments, stand back and look…turn my head to the right, then to the left. I look at it from a different room angle and squint one eye… I move one item to the left a fraction, and move something else forward. I eliminate, I change out, I add to. I repeat this process for as long as it takes until looking at it pleases me. That’s when I know it’s right..

My books are lined up in descending order by height in my bookshelves. When I was in high school, I alphabetized my record albums by artists and created tabs. I loved coloring when I was young, but if I colored outside the lines even once, I considered that page wrecked.

Planners or new calendars stress me out. I make my entries in light pencil until I’m sure I’ve entered everything, then I’ll go back and write it in pen. Scratch outs and liquid paper feel the same as coloring outside the lines to me.

My kids used to make fun of me, but now they choose to find the way I fold my towels endearing. I fold them in thirds and pat each towel after it’s folded. I put them in the linen closet with raw edges facing the back.

When wrapping gifts, my mom taught me never to tape a box. I taught my kids never to tape a box. They still don’t. The ribbon needs to match at least one color in the wrapping paper, and at the ends of the wrapped box, the paper ends need to match. (We wrap great looking gifts).

I unplug the toaster when we’re not using it, and hide the coffeepot cords and plugs. On my kitchen countertops, I put something in front of any exposed outlets to hide them.

It’s all about the details.

Trait #11: Excessive concern with details.

Your obsession about details can leads to procrastination. When working on a project, something small can trip you up. Until you get all the details worked out on that one thing to make it “just right”, you can’t make yourself move forward.

Being this excessively picky eats up a lot of time. I know that I’ve cut myself short on time needed to get to work, or get home from work, because I was high-centered on the details of some project I just couldn’t let go of. This is not intentional behavior, and it’s hard to just cut it off.  If you don’t go through your process, it can leave you with an uncomfortable or unsettled feeling. I have found that sometimes just walking away will break the hold that the obsession for details had on you.  

Just to be clear, Perfectionism is a personality trait, not a mental disorder. But as is with any obsessive behavior, any of these traits has the potential to lead to a mental disorder.

Perfectionism is a risk factor for obsessive compulsive disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, eating disorders, social anxiety, social phobia, body dysmorphic disorder, workaholism, self harm, substance abuse, and clinical depression as well as physical problems like chronic stress, and heart disease.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfectionism_(psychology)
There you have it. So…? Are you a perfectionist? Do these traits describe you or someone you know? I’d love to hear about your experience with Perfectionism, and any suggestions or insight you can share. Please comment below, or go to my Contact Me page and send me an email.
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Remember Pen Pals? We’re Bringing Snail Mail Back. Calling All Women Over Fifty!

Remember Pen Pals? We’re Bringing Snail Mail Back. Calling All Women Over Fifty!

by Patti Huck | PEN PALS, WRITING | 8 comments

Remember Pen Pals? We’re Bringing Snail Mail Back. Calling All Women Over Fifty!

It’s not often that I’m excited to open my mail box, but for a few days around Mother’s Day this year, nestled among all the junk mail, were these brightly colored hand-written envelopes. When I saw them, it struck me how seldom I actually get mail that is hand-written and personal.

Mail has become so impersonal over the years…bills, junk mail, the neighbor’s mail, blah…blah…blah… that going to my mailbox has just become a necessary item on my to-do list each day. But that week, as silly as it sounds, I was actually excited to get my mail in anticipation of what I’d find…who I’d hear from.

Remember Pen Pals?

It reminded me of a loooooong time ago when I’d had pen pals. Did you ever have one? I had a couple and absolutely loved getting letters from them. We kept in touch for several years. 

It made me wonder if people even did that anymore, or if it was another one of those “back in the day” things that had fallen by the wayside. So I did a little research. Snail mail pen pals are coming back in style again!

I found several Pen Pal Exchange sites online. Rows and rows of profile pictures were listed, most blurry or poor quality. They reminded me of dating sites. All ages, all genders. There didn’t seem to be any crowd control.

Call me old fashioned, but with the state of the world today and the importance of keeping our privacy protected, I’d hesitate to put my name out there with all the potential whack-a-do’s trolling the internet. I’m not saying there aren’t some out there that are totally legit, I’m sure there are, but my interest was in connecting with a woman that was near my own age. Someone I could develop a friendship with that could relate to my age and interests.

Then I had one of those “well DUH! moments.

My whole purpose in creating Women Over Fifty Network was to connect with women over fifty. I wanted to connect with them, and through that connection create ways for those women to connect with each other. I had noticed as I’d gotten older there weren’t as many opportunities to create friendships, yet I knew there were millions of us out there who were looking for those friendships…camaraderie, encouragement. Someone they could share their fears with, learn about new adventures from, laugh about aging with.

Facebook groups and forums can be a wonderful source for meeting friends, but it seems when you find a good one, everyone else realizes it’s a good one too, and you eventually end up getting lost in the masses.

Women Over Fifty Network’s tagline states we will “Inspire, Support and Celebrate each other. I attempt that through blog posts, our Facebook page and Facebook groups, our newsletters, but sometimes “connecting” can only really be accomplished on a personal one-on-one level. And sometimes that’s what women our age are craving.

Remember Pen Pals | Women Over Fifty Network

So…I Created the WOMEN OVER FIFTY NETWORK PEN PAL EXCHANGE

Let’s be pen-pals! I don’t mean let’s friend each other on Facebook. I’m not talking about sending each other emails that get lost in our junk folders. I’m not saying let’s add each other to our hundreds of other social media “followers”. I’m talkin’ let’s be good ol’ fashioned, one-on-one, hand-written, send by-snail mail Pen Pals. 

To keep out the riffraff (did you like that ancient term?), all of our Pen Pals will be:

  1. Women
  2. Over Fifty
  3. Subscribers of Women Over Fifty Network 

As long as we keep everybody contained within our little Women Over Fifty Network community we should be just fine.

This will be a great way for us to connect with each other and make friends with like-minded women, right?

 

LET’S DO THIS!

1. Enter your first name and email in the form below. Click “Submit“.  Congrats. You’re now a new subscriber of Women Over Fifty Network.

2. Next you need to confirm your subscription. Go to your email inbox to find an email from me.

3. Click “Confirm My Subscription” (this lets me know that you are really you & meant to subscribe). 

4. You will then automatically be taken to the Pen Pal page to fill out your profile. I will mail your profile to your new pen pal, and I will mail your new pen pal’s profile to you.

It’s FREE. See you soon!

UPDATE 12/8/2018

Because of an overwhelming interest, new pen pal applications are not being accepted at the present time. I will post when enrollment is once again open.

Thank you so much for your interest! 

Patti

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