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Welcome to Navigating Life After 40, the podcast that's all about helping women

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navigate this exciting and sometimes challenging phase of life.

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I'm your host, Ronnie J, and I'll be here sharing some of my own personal experiences,

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chatting with experts and a few friends, and also providing some practical advice

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and support to help you live your best life after 40. Let's get started. it.

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Welcome back to Navigating Life After 40. I am your host, Ronnie J.

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And you guys know the drill. I always ask this question or really just,

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you know, say something in generosity. I hope that each of you are doing well.

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Not so much of a question, I would say. Today is going to be a very,

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very short episode, and it's going to be my midlife moment.

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As many of you know, I started doing the midlife moments a few episodes back,

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and they are something that I plug into certain episodes, just depending on what's coming up.

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It could be something personal that I feel would really resonate with you all.

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It could be something that has been very popular lately.

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And maybe I want to just touch on it for a brief moment and just offer some

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words of encouragement and hope for you all.

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And to let you know that you are not going through this process alone.

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You are not navigating this journey alone. And we're in this together.

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I don't have all the of answers. I'm sure you don't have all the answers.

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And that is the reason that I do the guest experts.

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And that's another reason why I also share my experiences and hope that you

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all will share your experiences with me as well.

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And we do have a space for you to do that. And that is on Facebook in the Navigating

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Life After 40 channel, where you can connect with other women and also share

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your experiences so that we can navigate this thing and figure out these answers together.

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But for today's episode and today's midlife moment, I want to just kind of chat

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a little bit about this buzz that I have been seeing on social media, particularly TikTok.

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So lately there has been a lot of women addressing, I guess there was a content creator.

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I did not have an opportunity to see what this creator said.

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So I'm going to throw that disclaimer in there. But I have seen many women addressing

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this content, creators,

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their comments about women over 40 and not wanting to see what they call get

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ready with me videos from women over 40, which is, you know, I was just like, oh, wow.

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I was a bit taken back when I heard that and when I watched many of the videos of the women.

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And so part of that discussion, it also led to women really having this conversation about starting over.

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And back in episode one, I did an episode, I want to say it was maybe episode

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two, about reinventing yourself after 40.

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You know, it's never too late for a reinvention. I think it's the title of the episode.

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And I also plug it in to the description so you all will have it there.

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But I really wanted to chat a little bit about this today as my midlife moment

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topic, because it's so easy for us, especially women,

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because we're so driven by our emotions, to get caught up in what people are

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saying and how they view us, especially younger people, sometimes men,

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sometimes friends, sometimes family. It's so easy to get caught up in that and get caught up in the hoopla like in

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this case get caught up in the hoopla so I just wanted to today just share with you all that.

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Life after 40 is embracing adventure.

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It's all about adventure. It's all about finding yourself.

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It's all about just doing the things that you want to do.

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We've spent 20s, our 20s and our 30s just making probably tons of mistakes.

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Probably even before that, we can go back to teenage years.

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But hey, that's a different show. But we've spent so much time in our 20s and

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our 30s making mistakes and learning.

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And now we're in our 40s. And for many of us, we are having thoughts about being

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unfulfilled and really trying to figure out what is next for us.

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We're dealing with hormones that we probably have not dealt with prior to this stage in life.

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We are trying to find out what's next for us.

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You know, if that's a career change, if that's something else that you want

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to do, if it's something related to relationships, no matter what that is,

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we're trying to figure out something.

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None of us in nobody in life, again, is perfect.

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But as we get here, there is a different place where we land when we get into

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our 40s, our 20s and our 30s. we should have learned.

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And that has given us the wisdom to navigate this time in our life.

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I don't want you all to feel that because you are at this phase that you are now,

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that you cannot still enjoy the same things that you did at 20 and 30.

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And for example, it could be fashion. It could be, well, I really like fashion.

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And now I'm being told, for example, like with this creator, that...

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No one wants to see me in my fashions after the age of 40. And granted,

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our style changes over time.

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You know, what you wore in your teenage years, you may not wear in your 20s.

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What you wore in your 20s, you may not wear in your 30s. What you wore in your

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30s, you may not wear in your 40s. I hope not.

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But our fashion, our sense of style, it evolves over time.

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And for some people, they are also trying to figure out what is my style.

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So if you are someone who does do those videos on TikTok, keep doing those videos

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because someone is learning from you.

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Don't feel like you have to stop doing that or stop having this passion for

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fashion because someone says that they don't want to see it.

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And that's OK if they don't want to see it. That's the thing what we call keep scrolling.

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You can keep scrolling. Sometimes it's better to just not say anything at all

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than to say something. and just, just keep it moving.

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But for you all who are listening, just know it's never late.

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It's never too late to start over. It's never too late to go after the thing that you wanted to do.

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You've probably spent a lot of your adult life raising your children,

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doing everything for everybody else and putting yourself on the back burner.

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And now it's time for you to put yourself self in first place.

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It's time for you to be first place in your own life and really take care of your self-care.

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Prioritize self-care. We've talked about that before. There are so many different

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things now that really will come to your mind once you step into life after

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40 that you probably were not thinking about.

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You were not thinking about colonoscopies and will and testaments and And,

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you know, going to get these checkups to make sure everything's OK,

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because you were too busy having fun in those other years.

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But now it's time to do things a little bit differently.

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It's time to also if you are someone who says that you are unfulfilled,

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what is it that you've always wanted to do?

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You know, tap into that creative side of of who you are. are.

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And it also could be, how can I connect with other people so that I can find a way to be fulfilled?

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Whether it's people and people introducing you to new things or just going out

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and doing some things on your own, but really hone in on that creative piece that is within you.

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And it might mean that, hey, let me write down a list of things that I enjoy

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doing or things that that I've always wanted to try doing or that I was once good at.

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And I just kind of pushed to the side a little bit because life got in the way.

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It's OK to bring those things back in to play and get back into the groove of

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doing those things that made you feel fulfilled years ago.

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But I want you guys to just know, again, don't let anyone make you feel like

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you are old. All of us age.

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The young people who look at us and they might say, well, I don't want to see

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women over 40 doing get ready with me's.

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I don't want to see women over 40 on my timeline. line.

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It's okay. Because at some point, those same people who say that they are going

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to God's willing, there'll be this age someday.

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There'll be the age that you are. There'll be in their 40s. There'll be in their

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50s or their 60s. And there are a lot of women out here.

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I will say this. we look good to be women who are 40 plus if you are someone who watches.

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Reality tv i you know

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i do watch reality tv i'm

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a big real housewives of atlanta fan married to medicine fan real housewives

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of potomac trying to get into beverly hills And those women are when I look

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at the Karen Hugers and I look at the Kenya Moores and I look at Dr.

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Jackie's and Dr. Simone and all of them, they look good. And these women are,

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I mean, Kenya is not in her 60s, but Dr.

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Simone and Dr. Jackie and Karen Huger, these women are in their 60s or what

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Karen Huger likes to call triple 20.

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And I love that. They look good.

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We are out here living life. We're looking good, taking care of ourselves.

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And if you're not, it is never too late to start. heart, take care of you. You get one body.

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God gave you this vessel not to abuse it, but to take care of it.

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But we look good. And so keep doing whatever it is you're doing to take care of yourself.

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Don't let anybody stop you or tell you that.

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They don't want to see women over 40 or really just allow them to make you feel bad.

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Another thing is you're not on this journey alone. I mentioned that earlier.

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Surround yourself with people who are supportive, like a network of friends, family.

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There are groups out here you can join if you're someone who wants to travel

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and you don't want to do it by yourself. There are groups that you can join and get to know those individuals and then

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start traveling. and just enjoy this chapter in your life.

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Do it. Embrace new things. Embrace new beginnings.

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If there are things, again, I will say this, that you've always wanted to do

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and you've always wanted to accomplish, go for it.

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Go for it. There is so much power as I'm thinking about this and talking out

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loud. there's so much power in resilience.

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There's so much power in resilience. And so going through things and bouncing

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back and just creating the life that you want is a sign of resilience and strength.

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And so that is what I wanted to share with you all today.

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Very short episode, but I wanted to share that with you all today because I

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really wanted to address that because I see so So many women talking about that

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on TikTok and how it's, you know,

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it was frustrating for a few of them, you know.

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But I just really want you guys to not allow anyone to make you feel like because

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you are in this phase of life that, baby, you are not worthy to be where you are.

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You are not worthy of the best, that you have to look a certain way because

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you're over 40, that you should be walking around in those house coats that

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our grandmothers and moms wore back in the day.

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Now, if you want to wear that, that's fine. I'm not knocking you.

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I'm not knocking you. But don't let anyone make you feel that because you are

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a certain age that you should look and you should act like an old person.

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No, with age comes wisdom and it comes grace. And baby, you are wearing it well.

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That's a wrap for this episode of Navigating Life After 40. I hope you enjoyed

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this conversation just as much as I did.

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If you love what you're hearing, be sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.

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And if you're feeling generous, leave me a review on your favorite podcast platform.

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This helps me to reach more amazing women like yourself who are trying to navigate this amazing life.

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Thanks for tuning in. And until next time, keep living your best life.

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Music.