Aging Joyfully
A Woman's Guide to Optimal Health, Relationships, and Fulfillment for Her 50s and Beyond
Carla Marie Manly’s inspiring Aging Joyfully recognizes that, from birth, people are pushed to let go and move from one developmental stage to the next. While adulthood is met with eagerness, she says, later years are regarded as more bittersweet, and are marked by accelerating loss. Instead of approaching aging with such fear, Manly’s book encourages women to regard their mature years as years that are full of possibilities.
Encouraging women to be open to new opportunities and to explore whatever brings them joy, satisfies their curiosity, and brightens their future, the text is bolstered by wisdom and experience. In later years, it knows, women become free from many of their earlier obligations and can rediscover the wild, indomitable girls who are living within, just waiting for a chance to reemerge.
Manly’s is a warm, insightful, practical, and humorous guide to a life period she calls the most rewarding of all, despite its challenges. The difficult parts, she says, don’t have to be faced alone: “We can band together in love and community as only women can do.” The book points to inner treasures that chronological age cannot touch and finds beauty in aging, deep love in elder years, and the joy of a mindset that is eager for what’s to come.
The book’s topics include the loss of loved ones, new love, discovering new interests, and staying mentally sharp and physically fit. Advice on managing role changes is imparted, and knowing when to get help is encouraged. Manly is tactful when it comes to addressing topics that many women are too embarrassed to talk about.
Aging Joyfully is a wise, wonderful companion for navigating “one of the most beautiful eras of your life.”
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
