CERC’S
Mature Women’s Chronicle
Your
Job Search Connection
January 2005
What’s Inside for the Mature Woman?
Port Hope CERC is
MOVING
Emotional Well Being
Quiz
Feature Article: Don’t
Hibernate:
Staying Fit Strategies for Winter
A Wellness Mindset
for 2005
Ask a Wise Woman…
Personal Goal of the
Month
Resources
Quote of the Month
Port
Hope CERC is MOVING
The Port Hope CERC office will be MOVING. Please come and see us as we settle into a new “home”in April 2005.
More details to come.
Emotional Well-Being Quiz
Source: Human Resources and
Skills Development Canada
You may
remember that we talked about emotional well being in last month’s issue of The
Mature Women’s Chronicle (Hint…How about a thought adjustment). With a new year upon us, we want to remind
you how important it is to be emotionally well. Take this quick quiz and be honest in your answers. Then think about ways in which you can make
positive changes.
1.
____ I
generally face up to problems
and
cope with change effectively.
2.
____ I
worry very little about future
possibilities
or things I can’t change.
3.
____ I
seldom experience moods of
depression.
4. ____ I laugh several times a day and
usually fit “play” into my
schedule.
5.
____ I
usually express my anger directly
and firmly, but
without labeling the
other person.
“Don’t Hibernate:
Staying Fit Strategies for Winter”
Source:
Taken directly from an article written by Catherine Morisset, Fifty-Five
Plus, November 2004.
With winter
fast approaching, many people fall into pseudo-hibernation – they switch from
summer’s activities to a very sedentary life that lasts for six to eight
months, pretending that exercising sporadically four months of the year will
get them all the health benefits they need.
Get real! This only makes sense
if you are programmed to also stop eating and to sleep through the winter.
Hibernating Excuses
The excuses
I hear for hibernation are usually the cold weather, shorter days and the
feeling that you
have less
energy. Of course, you’ll have less
energy if
you never go into sunlight and don’t move – and not moving also means you’ll
have less energy.
Maybe you
are scared of ice and snow, that you’ll fall and break something? Well, of course it does get slippery. And on those days you can choose some of the
activities I will describe. But what
about changing your mental attitude, making it a priority for you to keep fit,
no matter what the weather?
Fitness is
about making movement a part of your regular lifestyle. Fitness is about the small decisions you
make daily. Make fitness easier by
making it part of your life – on the same level as brushing your teeth or
taking a shower.
Get up and just DO
something
So get out
of your chair, yes NOW. Stand up. Walk around your house or apartment three
times. Sit down. There you go, you just started a fitness
program. How long did it take? I’d say five minutes if your house is large and
you were slow. Well, it’s not the
Olympics, but being fit doesn’t have anything to do with pushing you to the
edge of human performance. It’s about
moving a little more, a little more often.
Three basic
tips to get and stay fit, even in sub-zero temperatures:
- Make fitness a priority
²
Yes,
you will move today, NOW in fact. Get
up again, walk around your house three times (try going the other way for new
scenery) or climb the stairs (if you have them) three times. Then you can sit down.
- Find a time for your fitness
activities
²
Make
it mindless: What about Monday,
Wednesday, Friday at 9:00am?
²
Start
small with 15 minutes at a time. As you
get fit and bold in those 15 minutes, add to the duration, aiming for 30
minutes of continuous movement.
- Do something – anything – to
move during your fitness time
²
Walk
around the house (you know the drill).
²
Climb
the stairs.
²
Put
good music on and dance wildly (close your curtains if you are uneasy about the
neighbours).
See February’s
issue for more tips …
A Wellness Mindset for 2005
Why not
resolve to enhance your State of Wellness this year. We will keep you motivated
every month with timely articles to keep you focused!!! A good starting point
is to adopt:
The Basic Principles of Wellness
·
Wellness
is greater than health.
·
You
are it; it is up to you –don’t put your well being in the hands of government, your employer or
the weather put it where it belongs…in your hands.
·
You
will get wake-up calls –we all get wake-up calls about main areas of our health and well being –
too often we don’t answer the call.
·
Well
being involves awareness and action –good intentions are not good enough – you must actively do
things to create wellness in your life.
·
There
are consequences to all your choices – every choice we make
- physical, emotional etc, results in a step to alter our present state
of wellness.
·
Our
motivation for health and well being is peppered with excuses –We have become masters of excuses
and our excuses have become the masters of our lives.
·
The
bitter pill to swallow: we are 100% responsible for the way we live.
Dear Wise Woman: 
Over Christmas I have been thinking
about working harder in the New Year to get back into the work
force.
Would networking
help
me? Thanks.
~ Stay-at-home Sally
Dear
Stay-at-home Sally:
Good
Idea!!! Networking is simply asking for a reference and many experts agree that
creating your own network is a key factor on your road to re-entry and success.
Everyday,
people recommend and offer referrals
-movies, books, vendors – even to relationships where we play matchmaker
- and hire people who we know, like or who come recommended.
Networking
is about meeting as many people as you can and making contacts…your friends,
parents, spouse, neighbour, lawyer, dentist or a bridge or golfing buddy – they
all know people that you should speak to!!
Remember
…networking doesn’t happen
automatically.
Take the initiative – people
want to
help if you let them. Make sure that
they
clearly understand what you do and what you are looking for and how they can
help.
Come into
CERC – we would love to share our many resources on networking with you.
Personal Goal of the Month
Get out there and move around!
Follow the tips suggested in the
“Don’t Hibernate”
article.
Resources
Web Site: www.careercomeback.com
“We wish you the least of the very
worse and the most of the very
best.”
~ Anonymous
