“A Yes is nothing without the No that gives it boundaries and form.” - Michael Bungay Stanier, “The Coaching Habit”

Really enjoyed this recent UK Guardian article (https://bit.ly/3vMIYyh) about older people making significant changes in their 90s. There’s the story of Maybelle Blair, who proclaimed, “I was in the closet for 95 years. Then that door blew open!” Imagine coming out as a lesbian at 95. Wow!

Chip’s Thought: When I read Chuck’s guest post, my mind went very visual which is a sign of good writing. Hope you enjoy this one.

Chip’s Note: I love my dear friend Wanda who was in our first MEA beta group more than six years ago. We’ve created reggae music festivals, ventured to Burning Man, and will soon be living near each other part-time in Baja as she’ll be a resident in my co-founder Jeff Hamaoui’s Baja Sage community.

“Wholly unprepared, they embark upon the second half of life. Or are there perhaps colleges for forty-year-olds which prepare them for their coming life and its demands as the ordinary colleges introduce our young generations to a knowledge of a world and of life? No, there are none. [...] that is not quite true. Our religions were always such schools in the past, but how many people regard them as such today? How many of us older persons have really been brought up in such a school and prepared for the second half of life, for old age, death, and eternity?”

I deeply admire those who’ve gone from being a striver to a thriver. I have to admit that just when I thought I was embracing my post-achievement life, I jumped right back on that treadmill. Of course, this makes no sense for someone who loves “time affluence” as much as I do. I love a leisurely Sunday at our home in Baja, napping on the outdoor mattress after a long walk with our dog Jamie. It feels good to attune with my privileged habitat in Baja. And I know it’s nirvana for my nervous system.

One is a choice. The other is a crisis.

The first half of our lives is influenced by our tuition, paying for access to schools and teachers that allow us to accumulate knowledge. The second half of our life is influenced by our intuition, the gut instinct that is a conduit to our wisdom. Yet, while we’re used to paying tuition, how do we invest in our intuition (that’s a great topic for an MEA workshop, right?)?

Chip’s Note: Opposites attract or, at least as we age, our polarities alchemize. For this week’s posts, I’ve created a series of juxtapositions because I think so much can be learned in the context of this vs. that. In reality, the truth is somewhere in between, but there’s often a deeper relationship between these polarities than we might see on the surface. Ken Wilber said the "ultimate reality is a unity of opposites," which helps us understand that the journey of life is learning how to make sense of that which seems in discord. Hope you enjoy the next five posts.

Chip’s Note: Ellen is a joy to hangout with and I appreciate that she wrote this without any prompting regarding how amazing my friend BJ Fogg is. If you have a habit that needs some attention, I think you’ll like this guest post.