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Marcia Smalley is a Certified Professional Retirement and life coach, author, and facilitator. For more than a decade, she has coached women as they navigate retirement and other life transitions, exploring questions of identity, purpose, and possibility. She is the creator of Still Becoming: A Reflective Companion for Life’s Next Season, a card deck designed to encourage reflection and meaningful conversation. Visit her at https//www.marciasmalley.com.

Latest Posts By Marcia Smalley

4 years ago

Aging Well Is Hard Work… But, It’s Worth it!

The road I live on isn’t paved. It stretches for a mile – a dusty avenue wide enough for two vehicles, and treacherous after a heavy rain. I knew this a dozen years ago when we found our property, which ultimately became our home…

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4 years ago

What Can Our Dogs Teach Us About Positive Aging?

Life lessons come in all sizes, and often life’s teachers are from unlikely places. In particular, our animal friends, both domestic and wild, have a lot to teach us. The lessons of aging are no exception…

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5 years ago

These 3 Life Lessons Taught Me to Be Resilient

Do you ever wonder how you’ve made it this far with everything life’s thrown at you. You might credit your staying power to luck or to chance. You might thank divine intervention. Maybe all of the above…

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5 years ago

Will 2022 Be the Year of the Older Woman?

The start of the year is a popular time to reflect. So, I’m inclined to be a little philosophical as we greet 2021 while pulling ourselves out of the abyss of the past year and catching our collective breath. I know there’s nothing…

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5 years ago

How Will You Nourish Yourself This Year?

Our life choices either deplete us or nourish us. They affect us physically, emotionally and spiritually, usually all at the same time. We can feel our choices down to the bone, in our gut and around our heart space. Our bodies speak to us…

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5 years ago

4 Important Life Lessons I Learned from Older Friends

Like other women my age, I’ve skimmed the surface of a lot of relationships. I’ve spent hours in small talk and nodded politely during countless introductions to people I’ve long since forgotten. It took me most of my 67 years to realize that I don’t like this…

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5 years ago

How to Make Retired Life a Pleasurable Experience

Many of us look forward to the day we retire. As our professional lives wind down, that moment we can finally leave it all behind beckons us like a Promised Land. I retired from a demanding career five years ago, and I can say that much of that promised bliss is real…

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5 years ago

How Even a Simple Getaway Can Bring a Welcome Shift

Leaving the neighborhood felt momentous. In 15 months, we’d ventured beyond our city limits once, to an AirBnB in the local mountains where we’d brought our own food, avoided almost everyone, and wandered outdoor trails…

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6 years ago

Forget Downsizing! There’s an Upside to Upsizing After 60

Is it true that downsizing is a natural part of aging? If so, I’m in trouble. My husband and I just moved into the house we designed, situated on five acres of rural property. It’s the largest space I’ve ever lived in. We chose to go bigger…

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6 years ago

When a Book Club Turns into Something More

A lot has been written about friendship in our 50s, 60s, and beyond. I’ve written articles about it, too. Whether we’re welcoming new friends or faithfully committing to the ones we have, women understand the benefits…

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