The following is an article directly from the pages of the September issue of The Baby Boomer News Magazine.  Get your own copy of the magazine to read more great articles at these locations, by mail or check out the online version.

THE LAST RITE OF PASSAGE

By Linda S Amstutz

We Baby Boomers have zipped through most of our rites of passage with hardly a moment’s hesitation (our first bifocals, our last cigarette, our first grey hair, our first senior discount, our first Early Bird dinner, that first social security check), so then why, oh why, do we struggle with that last rite of passage?

You know the one I’m talking about. Your doctor started nagging you about it around the time of your 50th, or 55^th birthday. That’s right — the dreaded colonoscopy. Forget that it saves lives. Forget that the colonoscopy should be heralded as the one true super power we can all harness to help us avoid – yes avoid! – colon cancer. We are still afraid of it.

But, why? It’s not painful. As a matter of fact, you sleep right through it, which is more than I can say for my last mammogram. Not only do you sleep right through it, but there are no consequences.  No hangover, no bar tab, no spousal recriminations.

So why do boomers balk at the idea of a colonoscopy? I’ll tell you why: It’s the prep that has us scared to death. But, why? The prep doesn’t hurt; it’s not painful at all, but it scares the poop out of us.

Literally.

The doctors claim they must have a clean palette (so to speak) in which to stick their little camera. All those years of medical school and they still can’t tell the difference between poop and a polyp. Can you believe that?

So, anyway, that means your bowels and colon must be squeaky clean.  And, evidently, the only way to do that is with laxatives and colon cleansers. We’re not talking about some Activia yogurt here; we’re talking about something that would send Jamie Lee Curtis screaming into the woods.

They call it Go Lightly, Co-Clean, Fleet and a bunch of other nice, clean names. Take my word for it, there’s nothing clean or lightly about this prep. You take a pill, or two, you drink some salty drink (which mixes quite nicely with Crystal Light Lemonade Mix to make an almost-margarita) and then you lay claim to a bathroom in the house, marking it Off-Limits to anyone but yourself. And really, why would anyone else even want to use that bathroom once you’ve been in there?

And in there you’ll be. For what seems like hours. Going and going and going. And then drinking and drinking and drinking. And then going and going and going. All night long.

If you’re lucky, you’ll make it to the commode in time. If you’re not lucky, you will shake your head, curse your doctor and swear to never do this again.

The next morning, you will pray that you can make it to the doctor’s office without any more special deliveries. The nurses will give you an IV and you will sleep. When you wake up, you will be rested and refreshed. You will not have to go to the bathroom anymore, thank goodness. You might need to push some air from your body; you might not, depending on what method your doctor uses to take his tour of your Netherlands.

Does that really sound so bad? Doesn’t it sound a heck of a lot better than colon cancer?

So, if you haven’t had your first colonoscopy, do it now. And if you’ve already had yours, spread the word: Colonoscopies save lives.

They really do. They save lives …. but they sure as heck mess up a perfectly nice evening.

And a pretty bathroom.

c2010 Linda S Amstutz. You can read more humor from Ms Amstutz at www.anotherlinda.com and you can contact her at anotherlinda@earthlink.net

Whatever it is, movies like The Expendables, new TV shows like Blue Bloods , they are touting names like Tom Selleck, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren and Sylvester Stallone.  Not to mention familiar, if older, faces popping up as guest stars on well known TV shows, like Robert Wagner on NCIS .
While it’s really a lot of fun to see them, and even more fun to take the walk down memory lane that it invokes, it also does one other thing.  When I see these familiar faces on the screen, I often find myself thinking, “Wow, they’ve aged!” Most of them have aged pretty well, but there is no disguising the fact that time has gone by. Which of course means I have to face the fact. I’ve aged too.
But you know what? It’s not so bad. And it’s nice to see that even Hollywood is starting to celebrate the fact that aging doesn’t necessarily make us old.

What stars and heartthrobs have you been surprised to see in the movies or on TV?  What ones would you like to see? Share with us here in the comment section or by sharing your thoughts in the Boomer Voices section.

I think it’s a tribute to our ability to embrace change that so many of us are creating our own second careers by utilizing computers and the Internet. We’ve approached using new technologies for business the same way for years.  We’ve not only accepted them, we’ve welcomed them and built upon them to change the face of business.

Some of the careers that baby boomers are finding success with are:

Affiliate Marketing-

Promoting products and services from other companies or your website or blog, which earns commisions on sales.

Blogging-

Easy to start, the most successful blogs focus on small niches that tend to gain large following of readers, building website traffic, ranking and bringing in sponsorships, etc.

eBay/Auction Sales-
Selling or reselling via online marketplaces like eBay, Craigslist and Amazon auctions.  Many times you can start out with items in your attic, basement or garage, find resellable items at yard sales and flea markets or even use a drop shipping service.

Arts & Crafts
Selling handmade items on websites like Etsy.com can provide baby boomers with a way to turn a loved hobby into cash.

Information Products
Let’s face it, we’ve spent a lot of years working, playing and learning.  Sharing our knowledge via e-books, e-courses, tele-seminars and webinars is a profitable business.  There are always people out there looking to learn those things that we know.

Virtual Assistant
Take those years of executive and administrative assistant experience and provide those same professional services via the Internet. It’s called Virtual Assistance and it’s what I do.  You can focus your services on those items you do best and enjoy the most.

Coaching
Professional coaches work with people and small groups to help them identify and acheive goals as well as overcome challenges in their personal or professional lives. If you’ve always been your friends and collegues go-to person when they needed advice and encouragement you might possess the skills to get paid for your wisdom.

Freelance
Freelancing has been around for a long time, but with the Internet, it’s become easier to find people who need what you offer. With sites like jobs.problogger.net, Guru.com, freelancer.com and more you can match your skills up with those willing to pay for it.

Are you a Baby Boomer taking advantage of the opportunities technology is bringing our way?  Is your business Internet based or using the Internet to increase sales/success?  Share your second career stories in the comment section below or by telling your story in the Boomer Voices section.

A recent advertisement for the Appalachian Summer Festival concert “Janis Ian and Karla Bonoff: Songs of a Generation” sparked my thoughts about our generation and music.  Although I certainly remember songs like “At Seventeen” by Janis Ian, I would also consider music by Journey and The Who as part of my own music mosaic.  In fact, if I was compiling a soundtrack to define myself, it would include music from Neil Diamond to Nelly, The Monkees to Maroon 5.

We’re a complex generation, one that has refused to allow age to define us, so why would music be any different?  Do you agree?  What would be in your Boomer music mosaic?

Blame Sally, comprised of Pam Delgado, Renee Harcourt, Monica Pasqual and Jeri Jones, has been playing small gigs in the San Fransisco Bay area for about 10 years, but recently, they’ve broken through the fog of new artists to become one of the most talked-about bands in southern Califorina.  Now, normally, this would be a feat in itself, but consider this: every member of Blame Sally is over 40 years old in a music industry dominated by youth. Baffling critics and fans alike, the band has rocketed from their dayjobs into making money their way: playing great music and entertaining people who like to listen to it.

The members of the band aren’t mixing words when it comes to their age, either. In fact, they believe it gives them a unique kind of advantage. Percuissionist Pam Delgado described how she feels about the benefits of being an older group:

I think that age brings a nice resolve and inner peace! It makes us more accepting as people. We don’t have a lot of ego around our work–this is a very democratic band. At the core, we have this level of trust. You heard Renee’s vocals sounding great, but I can promise you that if they weren’t, we’d be able to say that to each other.

We can all take a page out of Blame Sally’s book, no matter what field we excel in; whether that means belting out our pitch for a new product in a board room, or tickling the keys of our computers while composing that quarterly report.

You can read more about Blame Sally in this article on SecondAct, on their site: www.blamesally.com, or download their newest album, “Night of100 Stars” on iTunes.

You might be surprised.  There’s the Canadian curler Carolyn Darbyshire-McRory who at 46 years old (my age) is the oldest Olympian on the Canadian team.  And before you use the excuse that curling isn’t exactly a sport that requires youthfulness, let me inform you that she isn’t the oldest Olympian competing at the 2010 games.  There is also 51 year old Hubertus von Hohenlohe, the lone Olympian representing Mexico in Alpine Skiing.

And I’d bet that both of these athletes have the same exuberance that the younger set have.  After all, being over 40 didn’t dampen Dara Torres’ excitement about competing in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.  It also didn’t stop her from bringing home three silver medals.

It’s inspiring for me to see these Boomer aged athletes. It makes me realize that age really is just a number and that dreams are attainable no matter what that number is.  Do you have thoughts on Baby Boomers in the Olympics?  Or are you reaching for dreams?  Share your story with us here in the comments area or through the Boomer Voices section.

The unemployment situation is only one contributing factor, as the author points out, and it’s a risk that some can find hard to take. But after reading the examples of baby boomers who have blazed the trail to business ownership, it’s clear that not only can the risk be worth it financially, it can also be fulfilling.

Many of us have had dreams of taking our passions and turning it into a business, but until the current economical crisis began, we really didn’t consider it to be a real option.  After all, most of us were firmly entrenched in steady jobs working for someone else and doing quite well.  We never dreamed the day would come when our jobs would be in jeopardy, or worse, gone.

But with true baby boomer ingenuity many of us (me included) have decided that waiting for the recession to end and jobs to return just wasn’t an option. So we’ve taken the plunge and become entrepreneurs.
And why not?  With all of that experience working for others, we bring a myriad of talents, skills and experience to the table. Amazingly we’ve found that even years of being involved with the PTA and other volunteer activities are helping us to strike off on our own and follow a dream.

Rather than being a detriment, our age is a benefit and many of us are taking advantage of it.

If you’re one of the growing number of Boomerpreneurs we want to hear about you and your business. Consider it a chance to spread the word about your business.
Leave a comment on this post, or write about your entrepreneur adventure in the Boomer Voices section here at your Boomer Community.

Well, of course, there’s the animated cartoon “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, I’ve been watching that since I was a child and I always seem to find a way to watch it every year, usually with one or both of my children. Is there anyone out there that wasn’t scared by the Abominable Snow Monster when they were small?

Another animated classic that makes its way onto my television every year is the original “Grinch that Stole Christmas” not the live action re-make, the original complete with the creepy green Grinch and the Who’s down in Whoville singing “Welcome Christmas”.

When you talk about the non-animated Christmas favorites, “A Christmas Story” has to be at the very top. Now that TNT plays the classic for 24 hours starting Christmas Eve, we always wait until then to watch. Who can’t relate to “You’ll shoot your eye out kid.”?

That’s followed closely by “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Is there anyone that doesn’t love Clarence the angel getting his wings?

What about you?  What holiday movies and shows make your yearly ‘must see’ list?

Share them with us either in the comments section or via the Boomer Voices section of the blog

Thanksgiving? When did that happen?

Of course that started my thoughts on a trip down memory lane.

Thanksgiving was a pretty important holiday when I was a child. I remember my grandmother baking pies for what seemed like a full week before. My entire extended family, consisting of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and assorted cousins were always in attendance.

At some point during the week before, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving would air on TV, adding to the anticipation. Cartoon specials were always a big deal back then, after all we didn’t have cable or a 24 hour cartoon network. Cartoons were purely Saturday morning fare until the holidays rolled around. It never got old watching Snoopy making toast and popcorn with Woodstock.

Thanksgiving morning I’d wake up to the smell of turkey roasting. In the wee hours of the morning, my Mom would have gotten up and prepared it, as we would have to have it cooked and ready to travel to my grandmothers (across the street) in time for the meal.

My Dad and I would sit together in the living room and watch the start of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade for awhile before the lure of Gram’s house got too powerful to resist. Then I’d sneak over so that my cousins and I could sample all of the yummy snack items that the family had prepared.

From the fancy dishes of pickles and cheeses to the homemade fudge and stuffed dates, we felt the need to sample them all. It was definitely the reason we weren’t so hungry by the time the meal time arrived. And the reason several of us had belly aches by the end of the day.

The amazing smells of roasted turkey, potatoes, squash and whatever else was on the menu combined to create an aroma that just was Thanksgiving. The women bustled in the kitchen and after catching Santa Claus at the end of the parade my cousins and I would either retreat to the porch to plan some sort of musical presentation for after the meal or grab the Sears Wish Book in preparation for our favorite Thanksgiving Day activity.

The drafting of the Christmas list.

Back then, the Wish Book was the first sign of Christmas you saw. The decorations and television ads didn’t start until after Thanksgiving. The Christmas specials didn’t air on TV until December. But the Wish Book was released before.

We turned the pages picking out everything we wanted Santa to bring us and after the meal (it always had to be after we ate) we would write our letter to Santa Claus and ask him for half the Wish Book toy section.

It seems odd now that Thanksgiving was such a big holiday to us. Now Wal-Mart has the Christmas items on display alongside the Halloween decorations. It’s almost like it’s simply become something to ‘get over’ before we can move on to Christmas. I know that my own children probably never have seen it as being the big deal that I did.

How about you, what are your Thanksgiving memories? Please share them either in the comments section here or by using the Boomer Voices section.

And Happy Thanksgiving!