June 18, 2023

Embracing Aging as a Gift and Creating Magic in Midlife with Suzy Rosenstein - Ep.150

Embracing Aging as a Gift and Creating Magic in Midlife with Suzy Rosenstein - Ep.150

Join me as I speak with Suzy Rosenstein about her journey to becoming a coach in mid-life and the twists and turns, she experienced all along the way.

Suzy uses her upbeat approach to help people get unstuck and live their best lives. In this conversation, she shares her journey from a long career in health promotion and education to becoming an entrepreneur and a life coach. She talks about how being laid off was a turning point for her and how she discovered coaching through her own experience with a coach.

We talk about how common it is to experience confusion, feeling stuck, and overwhelm. Plus we give voice to the thoughts like “I know I’m meant to do something more if only I could figure out what it is” are as we age. Finally, we dive into how you can choose to experience a wholly fulfilling life through 40-50 and 60+.

Highlights:

  • Suzy is a master-certified life coach and the host of "Women in the Middle," a popular podcast for midlife women. She uses her upbeat approach to help people get unstuck and live their best lives.
  • Suzy’s background is in applied social psychology and she worked in health promotion and health education for 27 years.
  • After feeling stuck and stagnant in her career, she was eventually laid off and hired a coach to help her figure out her next steps.
  • With the help of her coach, she realized coaching was effective and decided to pursue it as a new career. She got her coach training certification and started her own coaching business.
  • Suzy's approach to coaching is to help people get clear about what they want and take action to get unstuck. She believes that it's never too late to make a change and live your best life.
  • Her podcast "Women in the Middle" focuses on midlife women who want to get unstuck and live their best lives.

 

Featured on This Show:


Suzy Rosentstein

Suzy Rosenstein, MA is a master certified life coach and host of the popular podcast for midlife women, Women in the Middle, with over 1.3 million downloads. Having wasted five years being stuck herself, she knows how frustrating and painful it can be. She uses her upbeat approach to the serious topic of aging to help you get clarity about what you want in your next chapter with the courage and commitment to pursue it so that you love your life again after 50!

Website: https://suzyrosenstein.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themidlifecoach_suzy/

Free Gift: 10 Questions to Help You Get Unstuck & Reimagine Your Life After 50

Transcript
Candy Motzek:

Hey welcome to she coaches, coaches, I'm your host, Candi Motzek. And I'm going to help you find the clarity, confidence and courage to become the coach that you are meant to be. If you're a new coach, or if you've always wanted to be a life coach, then this is the place for you. We're going to talk all about mindset and strategies and how to because step by step only works when you have the clarity, courage and confidence to take action. Let's get started. Hey, everyone, and welcome back to this week's episode. I have a special guest for you today. Her name is Suzy Rosenstein. Now, let me tell you a little bit about Suzy, she and I have just met. And I was thankfully interviewed on an upcoming podcast with her too. But in our conversation, I was just so taken with her. I don't know her enthusiasm, her spark her heart, everything. And so I really wanted to share her with you as well. So let me tell you a bit more about her. So she is an MA master certified life coach and host of the popular podcast for midlife women. It's called Women in the middle. And it's got over 1.3 million downloads, having wasted five years being stuck herself. She knows how frustrating and painful it can be. She uses her upbeat approach with the serious topic of aging, to help you get clear about what you want to get unstuck and to live your best life. She has got all kinds of gems to share with us today. Suzy, welcome to the show. I'm so pleased about where Arpoador conversation.

Suzy Rosenstein:

Oh, I know. And you know, we have a spark together. Candy, I loved having you on my podcast. And I was delighted when you asked me to come. So thank you. And thank you for saying those beautiful kind words.

Candy Motzek:

I really you know what you're welcome. And podcasts for me are conversations. And I know that my listeners they want to hear they want to hear the real conversation. So even if I make a mess up or something like that, we just leave it in. Let's just keep it real. There's a real people listening to us. So start by hearing a little bit about how you began as a coach, and also your evolution as a coach.

Suzy Rosenstein:

Sure, so my background is like my education, my master's degrees in Applied Social Psychology. And I was really into qualitative methodology, long term long form interviews. And I just loved that work. And back then I studied eyewitness testimony reliability kinds of stuff. And then that led me into something completely not related. But it was the relationship between children and their pet dogs. And so I got really good at at interviews, and listening and looking for patterns of speech and all kinds of things. And I went on to get work. And I ended up working in the field of health promotion and health education for 27 years. In the last 19. We're in a book publishing department of a hospital. And it was, we work primarily with addiction and mental health topics. And I focused on stuff with family. And I really liked that. And I was there like I said, for 19 years, and it was really good until I was there too long. And I didn't really realize I was there too long. But I started to feel really stuck and stagnant. And I used to fantasize about being laid off. And I just found myself, you know, thinking the what so many people our age think Is this all there is I think I meant for more. What's happening here, I don't know what I want. Like I was so confused. Saying I was confused was the most common thing that came out of my mouth and I just kept thinking it's just somebody could tell me what to do. I just want somebody smarter than I am to tell me what to do. And then one day I got the knock at the door and I got laid off. And, you know, even though I'd been fantasizing about it, it was horrible. It felt so harsh. And it was horrible. And it took me a probably at least six months to like settle in and cope with that feeling of betrayal and confusion and all of that and eventually I hired a coach because that's what, that's what one does, right. And at that point, I was starting to, you know, think about what I should do next. And I knew I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn't quite have any clarity at that point or the nerve. But I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. And there was evidence since I was 12. That I wanted to be an entrepreneur and I dabbled in all kinds of things for years, calligraphy, making female jewelry and selling it, making beaded a wire, head coverings, I'm Jewish, and I made for 10 1214 years, I made these beaded beaded wire keep us. And one of those ended up in the Museum of Modern Art in an exhibit, believe it or not, it was like the craziest story ever, just doing what I loved. I dabbled in direct sales. And all of that I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I really didn't have a clue. And it seemed really scary to me. And with the work of the coach, what I realized was, wow, coaching is effective. Because I was a little skeptical, I came from a pretty academic background worked at academic institutions. And I thought, I'm not really sure what coaching is, and maybe they're not staying in their lane. And I don't know, I was really just not sure about that. And then I hired one, and it was like, Whoa, this is interesting. They're totally staying in their lane. And I'm getting some huge insight that I didn't have before. And that's what happened. I thought, Well, I wonder where she got trained. And as I got my education, severance, what do you know, it was the same exact amount of money as the coach training certification was, I took that as a sign. And away I went, only focusing at that point on learning a new skill. But before I knew it, I was sucked into the possibility of being an entrepreneur. And that's how all of that started.

Candy Motzek:

It's like a treasure hunt, isn't it? You know, yeah, you think about life was good, until you were getting to this point in your life where you're feeling stuck, you're feeling confused. And I love that you talked about fantasizing being laid off. Like it's one thing when you're in control, and it's like, oh, it would be so amazing. It's another thing when somebody else instigates it, and now you're not in control, right? And so I talk often with my clients about a treasure hunt, especially with my life coaching clients. And this idea that you you, your heart, who you really are, you really know exactly what's right for you. And there's clues left everywhere. And that's exactly what you've described these clues that were left for you and these signs, and you were awake and aware enough to notice

Suzy Rosenstein:

and to to eventually, eventually, like we're all like that. Oh my god, I was stuck for five years. I mean, from 45 to 50. That's when it all went down for me. I cannot believe it was that long.

Candy Motzek:

Have you ever gone back and sort of done the taxonomy on it and said, Well, wait a minute, I kept saying I was stuck. But could you see signs where there was actually growth happening? You know, so, like you were, you know, kind of the butterfly and the chrysalis and you're actually changing? And you just didn't recognize it at the time?

Suzy Rosenstein:

Yeah, I think I can, I think I can like originally I thought I, I thought I might have depression. I saw my doctor and she's like, you don't have depression, I just recognize that it was something I hadn't felt before. Because I had been so content for so long, and I'm an enthusiastic, upbeat person. And I wasn't right. And there were there was a big reorg going on. And then there were also some huge personal things that happened, where close family members or friends passed away unexpectedly. And also we had a massive flood in my house that needed a huge renovation. It was just like, so much stress, and so much intense stuff. So that doctor was amazing. And, and she was my family doctor, and she just said, you know, I think you need some time off. Like, really like what kind of time off she says like, leave a leave of absence and wait, oh, that's interesting. So I did take an unpaid leave. And I remember thinking, Okay, I have no clue what I want to do. But I want to come down and I reduced. I remember thinking when I have babies, I have three kids. And when those babies are small, all you can do is one thing a day, that's what I found. My experience was I'm either going to take a shower, or I'm going to do some laundry but I'm not going to do both. So one thing only. So I did that at home when I was first just coping with a layoff and my identity working at this place for so long, which like I said, most of the time, I loved it, I had just been there too long. And I just thought, I'm going to do one thing a day, I'm not just going to be lunching with my friends, I'm not just going to dive into decluttering the house, I'm just going to just calm down and do fewer things, and just get myself back together. You know, and, and it, it did take a while to get over that feeling of being laid off the harshness of it. That definitely took time I took a course offered by the community center, which was terrific, just doing some career aptitude testing, just that kind of thing. The other thing I had done before I got laid off, was I started to just think about the types of things I've been fascinated by professionally or that could be professions, and just learn a little bit more about them. So I came up with a wacky list. And I just checked it all out, like I always kind of thought guidance counselor or go back to school and maybe do a PhD in psychology. So that was on the list. And so was being a dog groomer and checking out solar powered windows, solar energy, solar power, solar energy. That's what I meant to say with those panels. I'm fascinated by that. I love gardening. So I checked out landscape architecture, I checked out floral design, I checked out being a real estate, I love all the home shows, I did always want to be a marine biologist, but I couldn't see how that was going to happen that as an older person. So I just really started to be open to this kind of thing. But at the beginning, I wasn't thinking I need to be an entrepreneur, even though I knew deep down, I needed to be an entrepreneur, I was still too fearful. I was still too fearful. And but I did just start knocking on doors, even though I thought I would be hired by somebody else. The fear really surprised me because the fear was really coming from thoughts about aging. And thinking that perhaps I'd aged out. And there were fewer possibilities for me than I imagined when being employed by other people. I had no idea. I was thinking that but I in hindsight, I see that I was.

Candy Motzek:

Yeah. And so a lot of people that listen to this show, they are, you know, 40 plus. And no matter what age we are at, we kind of have that. I wonder. I feel vibrant, but I wonder if I'm a little too old. Right? And so I love that you share this journey because it just gives people heart. They'll hear parts of your story that oh, that sounds similar to how I felt or what I might be thinking. But let's talk about this transition from what you were doing. Becoming a coach. And then becoming an entrepreneur. Especially at sorry, this is a tongue in cheek This is Audio Only but tongue in cheek at the advanced age of 50. Essentially, yeah, right.

Suzy Rosenstein:

Yeah, I think I was probably 51 I think I was 51 When I finished coach, the first level of Coach Training,

Candy Motzek:

just ready for your second chapter. Right? Exactly. Totally

Suzy Rosenstein:

writer's kid, the first kid left the house. It was really perfect timing. Well, you know, as I was going through coach training, all of a sudden you're seeing successful coaches because there's people ahead of you. And there's people who have made those decisions. And I couldn't get one thing out of my mind that happened while I was on that exploration in the five years of stuckness. And I it has to do with with needlepoint, believe it or not, and I took on three needlepoint projects. When my kids turned 13 Because I'm Jewish. There's a Bar Mitzvah and there is a little a little what's the word? Oh, I've lost the word. I'm having a midlife moment on audio. A little impact in the package case with a zipper pouch. Pouches the word candy Oh, that was painful. And so anyway, there's a prayer shawl that is carried in these little pouches and many grandmothers will needlepoint those little pouches. And it's an it turns into an heirloom that the kids will have forever. So I thought there's no grandma who's going to do this. It's me. So I thought I better learn how to do it. So I started to go to this needlepoint store and I was taken with this, like, it had high ceilings and it had beautiful canvases on all the walls. And then it had a whole wall of all the colored threads. It was so beautiful. But one day I went in there, and there was this table of ladies at the back. So it's one of those higher tables that you don't sit around you stand and like lean over. And the owner of the store was teaching these ladies, there must have been five or six of them there. They were so focused, or they had lighting and everything. And she was teaching them something. I think it was beating on the needlepoint. And I just looked at that. And I thought, how did this woman figure out how to make a business out of needlepoint? What is going on here? This place is in the middle of nowhere. There's no walk by places. Like it's really it was in like an industrial park. Where is this?

Candy Motzek:

Nation is what it is, right?

Suzy Rosenstein:

Apparently. Is she How did she figure this out? And I went back to work at my desk, I remember it clear as day just having a pause. Just going what? How come she's an entrepreneur, how not an entrepreneur, I always thought it'd be an entrepreneur by now. So that just kind of stuck with me. So then I get laid off, yada, yada, yada, I end up thinking and being around all these people who have made decisions to take the leap. And I just felt like, the timing was right. Now I had a really solid skill. And it would be okay. I just started to believe that it would be okay. Yeah. And it

Candy Motzek:

can be as simple as that. It will be okay. You can figure that out. Right? Like, we don't have to have these big grandiose thoughts, we just have to keep it simple. And something that we can just hang on to when we're feeling kind of nervous. Right? Well,

Suzy Rosenstein:

I also have to say, though, I am married. And my, my husband has a good job. And so I knew and I had a severance. So I knew that I had a little bit of wiggle room there. For a while. I didn't really even know what the wild was. But I knew that it would be okay to start. And what I've learned, being a coach for this amount of time now is that, all we can really do is make The Next Best decision, there's no guarantees, there's nobody going to give me my future plans in a box with a bow, Tiffany, please the beautiful blue color, Hello, nice. That's not going to happen. But what we can do is make The Next Best decision. And at that point, it really, it felt very possible to start.

Candy Motzek:

So just the starting 10 years after the fact, you've had a pretty amazing trip. I wanted to make sure that we spoke about that as well. And I think we could just call it well. bajic. Right, like so 10 years after becoming an entrepreneur becoming a coach, you have had this amazing experience. Can you talk about how you made that come true?

Suzy Rosenstein:

Absolutely. So first of all, I just want to say there's been so much good, but it's still work, to allow myself to celebrate all the amazingness without saying but this isn't done, and I could do better. And I could be more successful and I could blah, blah, blah. So you know, I like most people listening at this moment. These pots still pop in, but what we need to do is manage them. But of course they still pop in. But there has been a lot of amazing things that have happened. And one of them is that I really believe that aging is a gift. And being clear on that belief. And diving into the world of working with midlife women where I know that I'm not the only one that needed to work on that belief, although I didn't have to work on it that much. And the reason I didn't have to work on it that much is because I've outlived both of my parents. So my mother passed when she was five, I was five she was 32. My father was 41. I was 12. And so I have outlived both of my parents, I'll be 60 this year. Growing up with that has really given me pause and it makes it so obvious that not everybody has the gift of ageing. Not everybody has that privilege. And when you do have the privilege, privilege comes with responsibility. And when you understand that you just can't wait around for fun things to happen and magical things to happen. You can create the magic and that whole thing has fueled me.

Candy Motzek:

Hmm, I love that. Yeah, that you know and it sounds like such a surface level statement You know, privilege privilege to be ageing. And lots of people say that, but I wonder how many people really take that to heart, and then say, okay, that means I get to create something amazing. I get to experience this, I get to share these things, I get to enjoy it. And you know, just really integrate that. Yeah. So can you share a little bit about your whale trip? Because I think that really highlights everything that you've described.

Suzy Rosenstein:

Oh, my gosh, you're asking me to talk about whales. I'm so excited. Thank you so much for asking me that question. Okay, so I love whales. My name is Susie Rosenstein and I love whales, and I love whales since 1985. And remember, I said I was fast. And I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist. And that was even before I knew that I loved Wales. But what happened in 1985, I was spending the summer in Maine. And I saw a flyer, like a little flyer on a telephone pole that said, whalewatching. And I remember thinking, what is that? Huh? Yeah, wait is that I was beside myself. So I booked the trip. And it blew my mind. And and this was back in the day, I was, I was in my early 20s, I would have to count on my fingers and toes to figure out exactly how old I was. Maybe I was 25. Anyway, I just thought I didn't even have a good camera at that point. Which is interesting, because I, I love nature photography. And this is one of the things that really inspired me to do more nature photography. I had a bad camera. And I saw some of the largest animals in the world. So on that trip, I saw finback whales, mostly. And they're the second largest animal second to blue whales. Anyway, it was an unbelievable trip that you could just be on a boat, and be in this space, and see these beautiful things. And it really sparked my imagination and my passion. So I made sure that I did more well watching it became something that I really did on purpose. For as much as I could. Now I didn't I don't live anywhere that it's so close. I'm in Toronto, you can drive to Cape Cod, about 10 About nine or 10 hours. Oh, that's quite a drive. Yeah, yeah, you can go to Tadoussac, Quebec, that's about 11 hours from where I am great whalewatching, but it's not like two hours away. So anyway, I would take vacations, if I went somewhere on a conference or a mastermind or whatever. Anytime I had an opportunity to go whale watching, I would go. And this is what had been happening over the years. And then I have my 60th birthday coming up. So I just fast forward it a couple of decades. And I thought, Okay, this is an opportunity. I'm a midlife coach, I need to be a great mall or role model about turning 60 What do I really want. So I came up with this idea called six and 60. And I wanted to focus on, like a blueprint for celebrating your 60th birthday can be adapted to any birthday, but 660s fun sounding. And so I thought I'm going to come up with six ways to celebrate. And I'm going to talk about turning 60 all freaking year. Here, right, so and celebrate all year, too. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. So I'll tell you the six categories. And I'll leave. And the first one has to do with with the whalewatching. So I'll just be brief on the other ones. But the very first question was, what brings me joy? That's an obvious question. But what brings me joy so much that I tear up just the thought of it, I tear up. And as I got quiet, and I asked myself that first question, and I thought, Oh my God, I want to go back to the WhaleWatch. I took 30 years ago in Baja, California, Mexico, like it was within a second. That clarity came to me, right? So just and we'll go back to that. But the other categories are something that's luxurious, to me my definition, something that I want to learn something that I actually want to purchase something somehow that I want to connect more deeply with people and some form of entertainment. So I came up with each of these categories. And and and I have a podcast episode about it and also a blog. So if you want more information, you can find that on my website. Anyway, this joy so after I had this moment, I'm like that is what I want to do. And then I thought, You know what? I've wanted to do it for 30 years and I didn't give myself permission because I thought I want to bring my family. It just in my mind I needed to bring my Family now this is not a regular WhaleWatch. This is like, far away. It's very remote. Like you don't just drive and park in the parking lots in the middle of the desert, in the middle of Baja, in the middle of nowhere. Really, it's the middle of nowhere and not easy to get to. And you live in a tent for four, it's in a tent. Cool. Yeah. So you're really in the middle of nowhere. So I thought I have to take my kids, this would be the best thing to take my kids. And I could never really justify it because it's very niche. Not everybody. They do, they would love a tent. But not everybody wants to go whale watching. Like, I don't know, six, seven times over four days. And it's a lot of money. They don't I know, I know,

Candy Motzek:

what, who are those people that don't want to do that, that I raised, and

Suzy Rosenstein:

I did take them on to whale watches over the years, or no one was just one. I think it was just one anyway. And it just it just came to me. And it's shocking to me that I didn't think of it before. But I didn't I have to set the stage. Turning 60 Being a role model and wanting extreme joy. And I have my health now, right. So I want to go back to this place. So I look up online. Baja expeditions, and I look up the trip. It's still there. And boy have it became luxury. When I did it. It was roughing it. We were in a tent on the beach on a cot. Like the tent was on the sand. It was really very, like the food was great, but it was a little rough. And now there it was glamping but it was glamping on steroids. It was like a boutique hotel in a tent. These tents. I'm believable. There was a sectional. In my tent. There was a dresser. There was a really big bed. There was a composting toilet. There were two. It was like a pedestal like two sinks, not one, two sinks and, and warm shower. I'm freaking believable. So anyway, I thought I'm doing this. And again, I'm thinking well, it's too niche. I'm just going to do it myself because it's with a group. I'll be fine. I did it myself when I was in my 20s when I did it in my 20s There was no internet. Really internet wasn't I like found it in the back of a travel magazine and I wrote a letter and they sent me a catalogue. Oh, gosh. Yeah. So anyway, I'm like, Okay, I'm just gonna go and I'm sitting here, right where I'm sitting now. I'm like, I'm gonna do this. Oh, my God, I'm gonna do this. So I booked the trip. And I tell my husband, I didn't invite him, but I'm doing the trip. I'm like, you don't want to go do you? He's like, you just go. Okay. And then I mentioned it to my best buddy from high school. She's like, I want to go like really? Wow, Greg intense, well, watching thing. She's like, I totally want to go, like, all right. And then I started blabbing about it. In my community, the women in the middle Academy, I started blabbing, and one of those women wanted to come. And then in another community where I'm a participant, it's another coaching another coach's community. And a woman started asking questions. And I had actually been in a WhaleWatch with her at a mastermind in California a couple of years before. So she texts me. She's like, Suze, what are you doing? I'm doing this totally cool thing. Do you want to come and she goes, Oh, my God, I sent her the note. And she booked it within days. Wow. And now there were four of us, right? And I thought, wow, I get to share this experience. I'm the only one has done anything like this before. Yeah, who these three ladies don't even know each other. And two of them, one of them has never been whalewatching. And the other one has been that one time with me. And this is an intense trip. And I thought this is so fun. I get to share my experience with other people who really want to be there. And that was how it went. And I just came back. It was It happened in February 2023. And now it's March. So I wasn't there long ago. And it was an unbelievable, it was everything I wanted it to be what's so special about going whalewatching this time of year in this particular place, which is called San Ignacio lagoon is that the gray whales are there. And they're only there for two reasons. They're there to either have their babies, or they're there to meet. It only happens for a couple of months every year. And this company you know there's very strict rules. It's a very protected area to wildlife sanctuary, very strict rules about the number of boats and you have to leave zero footprint on the on the land. So this this tent situation this this mini temporary city that they build or town or village I guess is more of a village. It's temporary and it all gets broken down and it takes takes months to set up again. And that's what they do. So it was amazing to be there, I brought pictures from when, you know, 30 years ago, and some of the staff, they were fascinated, fascinated to see it, and knew some of the people in the pictures and it was just so amazing on so many levels. And the ladies who came with me, each had a very specific goal of something that they wanted to overcome. And I did an interview with him a couple of weeks ago, like a panel interview talking about our trip. And I just love having the opportunity that I had a shared experience with them, that we could actually talk about and what they were able to achieve, and appreciate and fall in love with on that trip. So that's what I did in honor of my 16th. And I'm so happy that I took care of myself that way.

Candy Motzek:

Yeah. And just you know, and so for the coaches that are listening, notice these hot tracks, right, find something to ask yourself, what do you want? So many of the clients that I work with, when we first start working together, they don't even remember what they want anymore, right? So to ask yourself what you want, and to listen to what you desire. And then the question of what would bring me joy, but not just joy, extreme joy, and to listen, and to give yourself permission to want to get and then right and not go out and create it. Right? I

Suzy Rosenstein:

didn't because Kathy The thing about candy? I'm so sorry, candy. Is that it? It? Like we would poopoo it down normally? Yeah. It's like a good idea comes in and all of a sudden, it's Oh, no, that's to

Candy Motzek:

start not not right now or only only, you know, I couldn't go this year, right? Like we finally. And it's funny because of those excuses. They pop up before we've even had time to think about them. And so often we don't actually think the excuse through we assume that because it's a thought that jumps into our head. It's true. Instead of going, oh, wait a minute, what? Why not? Why not right now. So that would be the challenge for the listeners, you know, whether you're a coach or you're a client, or you're thinking of being a coach, what would bring you extreme joy, and to give yourself permission to actually desire it, and go out and make it happen.

Suzy Rosenstein:

And you know what, I don't know that I would have come to that insight if I didn't add the crying part.

Candy Motzek:

Hmm. Right. Because

Suzy Rosenstein:

I would have thought of it before years before and I was it never even occurred to me like it wasn't on a list. Nothing.

Candy Motzek:

But it had that connection. Right?

Suzy Rosenstein:

I think it was because the very first time I did it, I cried like when I had this encounter with a whale. These are huge. They're like 40 or 45 feet. These gray whales were in boats that are like 20 feet, little boats, like like with bench seating, little fishing boats open and I was leaning over in a whale was under the boat and started to turn over. And she looked at me. So her eyes massive. We were maybe 18 inches apart her eye and my head leaning over the boat. And She blinked. Yeah, I lost my mind. Like I just burst into tears. And it I described it and I have described it this way for 30 years that it was a very spiritual thing. Like it was interspecies communication, it I felt so connected. And I had never had an experience like that before.

Candy Motzek:

I've had a similar experience. And you know, for those of you who have been well watching and where you've been in that place where it's not so crowded, not you know, tons of people with lots of noises and people's shutters, clicking on their cameras. But I think that there is such a moment of quiet, deep quiet and peace that happens. And it is it changes you forever. Because once you've touched that you're you can't go back. Like it. It. It's like it in microsecond. It's like it's your as your soul. It's like you can't do anything but crave that soul connection. Again, right? hard to describe. But when you've experienced it, it's there. You know, it's there for forever.

Suzy Rosenstein:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that's what happened. And I guess, adding that, that level of joy because you know, something you said earlier, it's some of these statements about positivity and all the self help. Like if you go into a store, you're going to see some of these messages on pillows, you might have a magnet it's going to be on your Pinterest board. But to really apply and ask yourself like you were saying and, and to really listen and just not allow the drama and In the chatter, to just let the desire sit there.

Candy Motzek:

Yeah, yeah. Agreed, Millau. So we've covered a lot of stuff. Lots and lots of things today. Do you have any final thought that you want to share? Before we sign off for the day?

Suzy Rosenstein:

Well, I would say that one of the things I've noticed, hanging around with the 50 Plus crowd as long as I have, and of course, being on the planet, as long as we have, I just would really like us to be more curious about our thoughts about aging. What I've noticed, at least with my friends, even friends, not even my community, but also my community is that we think so many of us think we're cool about aging. If you're not outwardly negative, you probably think it's not an issue. You're cool with it. And I challenge that, because I believe that so many of us don't believe that the best is yet to come. I don't think we really believe it. I think that again, it's on a pillow. share a post? Yeah. But do we really think that the best didn't happen already? Like, is it the best happened already? Or is it really the best is yet to come? Do we really think it's a downward slide to the end? When you really are honest with yourself, most of us find a little more negativity than we think about our thoughts about the future. So the question is, are you really okay with aging? And at least be aware of what you're thinking? I had something kind of sneaky happen. I love sneaky thoughts, because they kind of bust you open. But you know, it was very simple. Somebody said, you know, wow, you don't look your age. And right away, it's like, Oh, my God, thank you. It's like, oh, look at me, I don't look my age. But what is that about? Why isn't it okay to look your age? Why am I so excited that I don't look my age? Do I really think it's better to look younger than I am? Clearly, when you respond that way, it's because of some belief that you have, that it's better. So again, that one really snuck up on me. And I discovered it a couple years ago, and I went, Wow, that's so interesting, because I totally think I'm cool with my age. I don't know. It's a silly thing, right? Yeah. Yeah. Mostly cool at my age.

Candy Motzek:

So this be curious. You know, notice these little thoughts that just pop up? Yes. Because always the awareness, right? Totally. Because

Suzy Rosenstein:

if you're not cool with your age, it's kind of like a wet negative blanket on so many parts of your life, that you don't even really appreciate the impact.

Candy Motzek:

Mm hmm. Yeah. And it makes me think of the number of people that I speak with who are recently 40. And they're having a very similar experience to what you're describing about that. Not really 100% sure if they're okay with aging. Not quite happy with being in the 30s, but not really sure what's to come either. So I think that it's almost no matter what age you are, you kind of come to this place of what is present now. Am I okay with who I am right now? Do I believe that there is more amazingness ready to come to me? Right. And it's just a matter of, to me, it's a matter of making a commitment? Yes, there is. Yes, there is. Right. Like just as simple as that. It doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be complicated. It can just be like, yeah, there is so much more great stuff to come. What do you think and

Suzy Rosenstein:

and if you believe it, what are you willing to do to create it? You know?

Candy Motzek:

Yes, yes, exactly. Wow. Suzy, it has been such a pleasure having you on the show. Can you tell people how they can find out more about you?

Suzy Rosenstein:

Absolutely. Thank you so much candy for asking me that. I really appreciate the opportunity to be on your podcast. I could tell right away that we were a good click when you were in mind, so I'm like, Oh, this is gonna be fun. Yeah, totally. Okay, so I have a website. Obviously, Suzyrosenstein.com, S U Z, Y Rosenstein R O S E N S T E I N. And my podcast is there and blog and all the things and I have a freebie that you're welcome to grab. It's called 10 insightful questions to reimagine your life after 50. And you can get there by going to Susyrosenstein.com forward slash 10 questions and that's the number 1010 question. That's

Candy Motzek:

wonderful. I'll make sure to put all those links in the show notes. And I'm sure there's lots of people that are going to come through to your website, listen to your show. You've got lots of great episodes there. So I highly encourage people to go and listen. Thanks again.

Suzy Rosenstein:

Thank you so much.