6 Months to 60 Challenge

I started ‘Gypsies After 50’ back in 2018, while I was still in my 50’s. Well….. that number is soon changing to 60! Yikes. Where did the time go. I know it’s just a number… but it’s a big number. I thought 50 was big. But 60? That’s close to retirement, social security, Medicare! Now we’re talking getting older. But…. and of course there’s more to the story….this is also just the beginning of our next chapter, our next adventure. And I’m sure there are some of you that are coming up on a big number like this too. So what am I, (what are we), going to do different? What goals are we going to set? Who am I going to show up as? What do I want to accomplish in the next 6 months? That is my challenge to myself and to you, my readers. I want to share my goals, my dreams, my ‘to-do’s’ in hopes that it creates some spark in you to create your own 6 months to 60 goals.

1. Re-ignite and Re-structure My Blog

Life has a way of getting in it’s own way….can anyone relate? I started my blog four years ago in hopes of creating a place to share my thoughts, my travels and my photos. And although that is still my intent for my blog, I’ve not given it much attention in the last couple years. Again, life kinda got in the way. We moved to Florida; started a new career in real estate; renovated three houses; bought a boat and have been renovating that as well (more on the boat in future posts). Along with travels and general life stuff, I have not taken the time to write or do much at all with my blog/business.

Time to write again.

So this is my first goal during my 6 months to 60 challenge. I am going to commit to writing posts again, hopefully one a week on various topics, but mostly pertaining to our upcoming boat adventure on the Great Loop. Check out the new category on the front page called ‘Our Boat Adventure’.

Next, I will be re-structuring the look and direction of the blog. Plus changing the name from Gypsies after 50 to Gypsies after 60…. seems appropriate given the upcoming birthday. 😉 So look for some changes in the upcoming months. Hopefully, it will all work out and serve and look so much better. And to quote the series, ‘The Chosen’…. “Get used to different”.

2. Purchase Real Estate Investments:

As I mentioned, I started a career in real estate by becoming an agent in Northern Florida. Wow, was that not on my radar… ha! But it has turned out to be a very good direction for Eric and I. Not only has it been good financially, it has also provided a means of investing in some real estate of our own. As we have both always been self-employed, having a means of income into ‘retirement’ is very important. No 401K’s waiting for us. So we have been blessed to purchase some properties; some as rentals and others as flips. But my goal is to have 6 rentals by the time I turn 60. I have three now (four if you count my primary which will be rented while on our boat trip). So I have some work to do. And with the market and rates as they are, it’ll be a challenge. But it’s one of my goals in my 6 months to 60 challenge, so I’m committed to trying.

3. Lose my belly…. AKA, Get Fit!

This goal is really an ongoing goal. I’ve always exercised, but this post-menopausal thing really does a number on our bodies….right? I know hormones, or the lack thereof, has a huge impact on our physical shape…namely the ‘meno-belly’. Ugg! No matter what I try, it just seems to be there. I’ve never been a ‘diet’ person, as I’ve always just eaten wholesome, close to nature food. Nothing (or at least very rarely) processed, except for the occasional frozen pizza when we don’t feel like cooking. So changing my diet doesn’t seem to be what I need. And I am I still big on yoga and walking for exercise. So I don’t see any big changes…but I know I can do better.

It’s not just fitting in your clothes…

However, being fit is so much more than just fitting into my clothes better. Which is my real goal. 🙂 And it is definitely not about ‘losing weight’. Weight is just a number, ladies. I’ve never been attached to my weight number. It’s about feeling good about the way I look, about how my clothes fit, and being comfortable with my body at this age. I’m not 30, or 40…. or even 50 anymore. And that is ok… no, it’s more than ok. My body has served me well for 60 years. That needs to be honored. So I do not need to be slim, trim and fit like I was 20, or even 10, years ago. But I do want to be healthy and fit so we can continue to go on great adventures and live the life we want to.

So this 6 months to 60 goal is to be committed to better exercise daily; to eat less carbs to hopefully reignite my metabolism; but more importantly, be thankful and appreciative of the body God gave me and accept that I’m turning 60…. not 30 again. And remember….when we were 50, we prepared our bodies for our 60’s. So now….with turning 60, we need to prepare our bodies for the next decade into our 70’s. And we want to live well. So this goal is extremely important for our future.

4. Go on a Grand Boat Adventure:

Ok, so this goal we’ve been preparing to do for awhile now. And since January, 2022, when we purchased our boat, it’s been an ongoing project. But now, we are getting ready to actually leave on the big adventure. We are starting the Great Loop the first week of November, 2022. If you are not familiar with the Great Loop ( and neither was I a couple years ago before Eric told me about it and his dream to do it someday), it is a circumnavigation of the Eastern part of the US. The Loop goes from Florida (or where ever you start it) along the eastern coastline on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; then up the Hudson to the St Lawrence Seaway; west thru canals to the Great Lakes; then down through Chicago and into the river system; down the Mississippi to the Tennessee waterway and into the Gulf of Mexico back to Florida. It is over 6000 miles of waterways to travel which takes an average of one year to finish. We plan on taking about 1 1/2 years to complete…..God willing.

We want to ‘live our someday…today’.

As you can tell, this is a huge goal to commit to, but it’s also part of our life adventure and our way of ‘living our someday…today.’ We didn’t want to wait to start our boat adventure until we were too old or unable to actually do it. So here we are, getting prepared to begin. I will go into more detail on our boat and the preparations in future posts. Check back on our page Our Boat Adventure. And I will be sharing lots of photos and moments as we travel this Great Loop. I hope you will follow along on our journey.

What big adventure have you been putting off until ‘someday’? Have you always wanting to go to Italy or France? I highly recommend both. Or maybe see the Grand Canyon. Or better yet raft down the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon? Whatever adventure it is you’ve been waiting for, just do it. Now is the time….not tomorrow. Set your own travel goal in the 6 months to 60 challenge.

5. Be Me… but the Best Me:

When we get to this age in our life, I hope we have gained some wisdom and contentment along the way. So many experiences, emotions, purposes etc that have shaped who we are. And some of us may have lost a bit of who we are at our core because of the other roles we have taken on…mom, wife, employee, business owner or whatever. But now…. as part of my 6 months to 60 challenge, I want to be me….but the best me I can be. I want to appreciate and be thankful for the person God made me to be. And commit to being my very best self. And much of that has to do with mindset. So to keep moving in my best direction, I am going to commit to my personal morning routine. This involves meditation, prayer and bible reading, journaling and affirmations. I’ve been doing this for awhile, but not as consistent as I would like.

Be my best self.

Also, as part of my ‘be my best self’ commitment, I want to keep in the forefront of my mind these encouragements that I wrote 5 years ago during a very hard time in my life. I want to make them an integral part of who I really am. The statements are the following. Feel free to make them your own.

• Speak Less ~~~ Listen More
• Frown Less ~~~ Smile More
• Think Less ~~~ Feel More
• Worry Less ~~~ Trust More
• Work Less ~~~ Dream More
• Be Angry Less ~~~ Be Graceful More
• Judge Less ~~~ Understand More
• Rush Less ~~~ See More
• Blame Less ~~~ Encourage More
• Stress Less ~~ Love More

6. Delight in God and His Blessings and Promises

I’ve been a Christian since I was a teenager, claiming Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. And I still hold to that. However, with my life changes over the last 10 years, my walk with God has been… well, more of a stumble… trip…stumble…stop… kind of walk. I know the talk and the ‘right words to say’, but the ‘knowing’ is the struggle. And the ‘knowing’ is what I desire.

So my final big goal in my 6 months to 60 challenge is to recommit to my God and Savior; to truly delight in Him and his blessings and promises; to treat my relationship with Him like I would any relationship. It needs to be nurtured by spending time with Him, learning who He is through His Word and talking to Him through prayer. But I do not want this to be a box to check off. I did the box checking thing before and that is not what I want. I want God…. not a list of to-do’s.

My commitment as a Christian.

So first, I am publicly claiming I am a Christian. Second, I am letting you all know I am far from perfect and mess up a lot. And third, I need God, not as a crutch, but as a savior, father, friend, and companion. I need to know Him. So that is my goal. Although, this goal is not really only 6 months; it is a lifelong commitment. But I want to use these next 6 months to commit to spending more time with God. Anyone out there with me on this one?

Finally…

I’m sure I could come up with more goals and dreams to commit to, but I don’t want to overwhelm myself… or you. 😉 These next 6 months will be challenging, interesting and adventurous to be sure. But at the end, when I turn 60, it will be just the beginning of our next chapter. And I’m so excited to see where God leads me next.

I wish you all joy and positivity and hope that my challenges have sparked some goals in you as well. I’d love to know what you think and if you’d like to join me on this journey to 60. Leave me a comment and let’s have a chat. As always, stop waiting and make your someday….today.

~ Kathleen

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