Forget the Guilt – Nurture Yourselves

If you’re a mature woman, over fifty, you might feel a pull when it comes to indulging yourself: Back when you were younger and taking care of the kids and up to your eyebrows with your career, all you could do was fall in bed at night, dreading the buzz of the alarm the next morning. During those years no one cared what you do with your time, because everyone but you owned your time. During the few moments you had to yourself, you dreamed of the day you could lavish the hours away on a passion of your own.

As women we give heavily of ourselves and though it’s a biological need of ours to nurture and care for others, we find that we also have a wants of our own..It’s not that our husbands don’t sacrifice because they do, but it  seems that when the kids are growing up. more often than not, it’s the man who plays golf until seven or eight, summer evenings or watches NFL, while we catch up on the house or take the kids to ballet lessons.

At long last, but sooner than we think,  that time comes when we can have a vacation from  the pots and pans, stick the vacumn in the closet, and hire the wash done. It’s  our turn to.pour our passions into art lessons or start writing the all consuming novel we’ve waited to write or play bridge five times a week… But does it happen like that? Just as we ready ourselves for a bath in self-indulgance, husbands retire and the “now grown” children want us act like matue and proper  women who can babysit 24/9, instead of being college girls seeking a dream. We can be made to feel “selfish or silly” for wanting time for ourselves.

Has this ever happened to you? If so take this as meaning you are as important as ever. Your family still wants your brownies and care. In the meantime, go ahead and fullful that dream. They will still be there when you’re up on the stage receiving the Pulitzer Prize and proud of you for all that you are. It’s your turn.They will survive just fine, but expect to feel like a fish caught on a line. Meantime remember to laugh.is

Barb Franzen lives a prairie life in the Platte Valley of NB. A nature lover she is passionate about writing. Other interests include genealogy, mental health, reading and quilting-Her favorite thing is painting pictures with words and discovering out of the way haunts-A woman who lives outside of the box- You can find her at her blog at: http://gabbi-innerjoy.blogspot.com/.