The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond [Paperback]

Pamela D. Blair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

IS THERE LIFE AFTER HOT FLASHES?

Yes! According to Pamela Blair, psychotherapist and author of The Next Fifty Years! That person in the mirror is you and now is the time to understand and accept the external changes while making some internal changes. Make peace with yourself, embrace aspects of yourself that have been unexplored, and dive passionately into what you love!

There has never been a better time to be a woman over fifty. Embracing the celebratory essence of The Red Hat Society and Red Hot Mamas—while at the same time moving beyond them—The Next Fifty Years offers solutions and support. Included is a group study guide with outlines for creating a meaningful forum for thoughts, concerns, joys, frustrations, and—fun with your friends and peers.

Today’s woman is recognized as being far more complex and multidimensional than previous generations, fulfilling many roles in today's society. More than 150 short essays cover topics specific to women and aging, including:

• self-image
• mind
• emotions
• fears
• relationships
• spiritual self
• creative self
• finances
• health

Also included is journaling space for you to write your own thoughts and feelings. Intended both as a personal journal and guide to the best years of your life, The Next Fifty Years can become a written legacy between generations of women—past, present, and to come.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a wonderful book--filled with useful exercises and spirit." --Sue Bender, author of Stretching Lessons, Plain and Simple, and Everyday Sacred

Product Details

• Paperback: 333 pages
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571744398
• ISBN-13: 978-1571744395
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pamela D. Blair is a psychotherapist, motivational speaker and life coach with a private practice in Hawthorne, NY and Wilton CT. For a complete bio on Pamela D. Blair go to www.pamblair.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SHATTER YOUR AGING MYTHS, September 24, 2005

By 

Patricia Dewitt "Patricia D." (Tucson, Az.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond (Paperback)

This book has indeed encouraged me to re-envision my life for the years ahead. The essays by women who are successfully aging are short. There is room after each essay for journaling, answering specific question about the essay. This has made it possible for me to explore my beliefs about aging. I have made the book my own and have actually written on every page. The wide margins encourage note taking. Usually I will write in pencil so my material can be erased. In this book my comments are in ink. I have claimed the book as my own.
It is a book that I will give to my friends who are stuck in the myths of aging.
After reading this I know that I do not have to age like my Mother or Grandmother. My age now is 68 and I know now that I have many fulfilling years ahead of me.
This is the first interactive book i have seen on aging.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A think-and-do book for cronehood, January 26, 2006

By 

Mary-Minn Sirag (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond (Paperback)

This book is well timed for the crossing over of us baby-boomer women into the seemingly formidable midlife threshold. It is a fun read that entices its reader to accompany-and, years hence, to revisit-it into a ripe and rich old age that (we like to think) makes the young-and-promising positively tremble with eager anticipation and even a little envy.
As our youth recedes, we gain in wisdom-or so we fervently hope. This book provides a nice direction on topics to start cogitating about, if we aren't already saying "me too" at their very mention. Both held true for this 50-something reviewer.
The journaling pages add a new dimension to the author's musings and down-to-earth advice about how aging affects cultural attitudes, relationship to self and others in our lives, and logistical concerns. The think-and-do format seems designed for those of us (such as myself) who whittle away seeming eternities in waiting rooms ripping out and filling in self-diagnostic tests from women's magazines. This book is written with avid readers of women's magazines in mind.
This format helps with journaling, an increasingly valuable skill to those whose need for verbal processing exceeds the capacity of even our closest friends, therapists, not to mention our sanity.
Ms. Blair offers much practical wisdom on stress management, the more than occasional need to say "no", how to prune out obsolete junk and simplify-even how to sell your house and create a more comfortable and manageable living space for yourself. The author takes some of the sting out of certain unpleasantries-such as the death of loved ones, working retirement, parenting "old" children, employers' prejudices against older workers-by articulating and describing them, and creating a guided journal entry. Her tone is warm and motherly without being scolding or condescending. I would have liked more information on the logistics around the deaths of parents, but no reviewer can have everything.
It works best to take in this book as a self-paced mini-course, pausing at your leisure to dialogue with the author by filling in the journal entries as you journey through it. Though the content builds on itself, the table of contents' organization and the self-contained coherence of each chapter makes for a nice nibbler too.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love This Book!!!, March 30, 2007

By 

Debra Cerbini (Westchester, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond (Paperback)

Picture sitting down to tea on a warm sunny porch in early spring with your favorite Aunt. She's honest, witty, full of important information delivered with love and affection which helps pave the way for your continuing growth and development. With The Next Fifty Years, Pamela Blair has officially become one of my favorite aunts, gently guiding me through the challenges of midlife with grace and humor. The essays, on every topic imaginable, are beautifully written and punctuated with fabulous quotes from women only. At the end of each essay, wonderfully thought-provoking questions transform this book into an interactive conversation where my journaled responses become part of the journey. Order this book, put the kettle on and pull up a cozy chair - you'll be glad you did!