Hopefully, many of us will get to experience ageing and getting older. Some see it as a privilege, others as a curse. However you choose to view it, getting older is inevitable. We only get one shot at life, and making the most of each stage is key to enjoying a more fulfilling and happier life and outlook.
This article, written by Nicola Farndell, explores the idea that our lives come in seasons. Not in a cyclical sense, but in how we move through different stages of growth and development.
Nicola supports professional midlife women to understand the power of caring for themselves through and beyond menopause. She unwraps what healthy living really means to help women get in control of their well-being as early as possible so they can power through every season of their lives. Using her framework of mindset, movement, nutrition, sleep and stress, she helps women to feel confident, empowered and worthy, to live healthy, happy and strong – for life!
A certified health coach, qualified personal trainer and ex-corporate leader, she combines her corporate experience with her own journey of living with mental and physical health challenges to support other women build their own, sustainable healthy habits, enabling them to thrive.
Find out more about Nicola on her website, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Planning for the Seasons of Life
When I first heard the term “seasons of a woman’s life” I thought it seemed misused and didn’t understand what it was referencing. I thought of a season as something that comes, goes and returns in a cyclical type format. It’s also used as the American term for a series of a TV show with a finite number of episodes, followed by a long break as we wait in anticipation for the next season to be released.
As I became more familiar with the term and started to hear it used in different contexts, I grabbed onto it, understanding its relevance not only for me as a health coach but also for every single one of us. But particularly women.
There’s no denying that all humans have seasons in their life, in a biological sense – infancy, childhood, adolescence and puberty, adulthood. But for females, there are arguably many more unique seasons.
Most women are familiar with what menopause is and have been led to dread its arrival. For many of us, puberty was harsh enough, bringing with it all types of changes like mood swings, an emotional rollercoaster, physical changes to our body and mental changes too.
Then we’re brought up hearing about the onslaught of menopause in all its glory – hot flushes, mood swings, depression, anxiety, insomnia, memory loss, brain fog, low confidence, weight gain, loss of libido, nd many more horrifying, scary symptoms.
The many seasons of a woman’s life
However, what many of us are not familiar with, or educated about, is how we change in other ways through the varying seasons of our lives. Not all can be as formally categorised as puberty or menopause, but they exist and bring new hurdles and experiences with them.
It’s important to understand this for several reasons. Firstly, as females we tend to go pretty hard, putting an enormous amount of pressure on ourselves to do and have it all. This belief, which for many of us comes from childhood and is reinforced through the media as we age, can be severely damaging to our health. Striving to have it all, without consideration of our physical and mental capability, can and most likely will lead to problems.
Pushing forward without any regard for our health is, in itself, harmful in the here and now, but the consequences will be felt even more in the longer term, especially if this way of life becomes our norm.
Take a minute to think about your life and where you are right now, and reflect on the different stages
you’ve been through. For example, post-puberty there’s leaving school, maybe embarking on several years at university or going straight out into the world of employment, or setting up your own business. There are new social circles, friendships and relationships as well as changes in your family life and most likely your home environment.
There might have been heartache along the way, either through broken relationships or the loss of loved ones. At some point maybe you married or entered into a partnership and navigated the changes to your life this brings with it. Perhaps parenthood is part of your life and all the enjoyment, worry and change this throws with it.
Preparing for healthy and happy seasons
We all go through these varying ‘seasons’ in our lives, and some of these are guaranteed to have, as part of them, very specific physiological add-ons. Things that happen to our bodies and minds we can’t just choose to ignore or neglect. It’s important to recognise and be aware of this, so you can prepare for them, protect yourself as much as possible, and handle what you need to, as best as possible.
Why? So you can continue to enjoy your life and be happy through these different life seasons, embracing what comes next. Being prepared to navigate the seasons we all experience in our lives, including those that bring the potential for huge shifts and change, is something that can help you to remain in control, focused, and healthy.
It’s proven that when you’re healthy, you’re more likely to also feel happy. When you feel happy, you want to take care of yourself, you have greater resilience and can cope with change easier. Protecting yourself by being the strongest version of yourself also helps to maintain your health and keep you feeling well both physically and mentally.
I’m 100% an advocate for being proactive rather than reactive with your health. Quite often, when it’s time to react, things can’t be reversed, only managed and adjusted to. This can result in changes you’re not ready for and with life-changing consequences. There isn’t only one season when it’s time to begin this investment in yourself. To live healthy, happy and strong now and in the future, you should be investing in yourself right from the off.
Healthy habits
When I worked in corporate, I always used to think and operate with the mantra of “it’s all about the planning”. I know from my own and others’ health experiences, that being prepared when it comes to your life and having protected yourself through the right healthy habits and lifestyle, sets you up so much better to handle each new season that comes your way.
Being able to embrace the season of your life, rather than wish it away or lament the seasons lost, will lead to the happiness you desire. It builds a more mindful, positive mindset, recognising the cycle that life runs through. You’ll have appreciation and respect for where you are right now, knowing it won’t last and that you can tune into it to connect and find your harmony with it.
Some seasons will inevitably be more difficult than others, and some you may be pleased to see the back of. My key takeaway here is the awareness that they are what they say on the can – seasons. This means they won’t last, they will move on and bring something new in its place. They’re part of nature’s course. They’re part of being human.
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