Big Sister Advice to Remain Young

Welcome to Day 10/30 of this newsletter challenge. 💩 

Over the next 30 days, I’ll send out a daily email featuring someone who I think has found ways to Set The Pace in their life (shameless plug) and share the unique ways they go about their work, life, and everything in between.

The email will be divided into:

• 3 insights into our guests’ life

• 2 quotes that leave you a little better than they found you

• 1 podcast recommendation

3 Insights

Nathalie Anastasi 💫

Nathalie is the wise owl in my life; although when you meet her — nothing about her screams owl, rather more of a woodpecker always busy swimming across blue bays, climbing mountains in Pakistan, or exploring new treks in Colombia. AND OH, she’s only 60+.

Nathalie is a force of nature who has by no means had it easy. Her parents passed away when she was very young, and her first husband too, all while raising two fantastic children and working around the clock. What impresses me most is how she always found ways to challenge herself and surround herself with the right group of people through sports and creativity.

So, let’s get dive in:

1. What advice would you give 30-year-old you?

   Nathalie: When I was 30 I had already been married 8 years with 2 kids. I was on the cusp of coming to terms with the "deconstruction" of my parents' mental illnesses, my father's suicide, and my mother's acute anxiety and inability to cope without pills and alcohol. As children, we look towards our parents for guidance, strength, and wisdom, I did not know what that was like, but i knew that this was not a normal unit. I found it very frightening, acknowledging then that one's life can end abruptly or destructively.

   My advice today would be to believe in the power of your own soul, your inner thoughts that guide you, and your gut instinct that can stir you in the right direction. Follow that desire to accomplish whatever you may endeavour partake and free yourself of all fear. Believe in your own destiny and not the toxic legacy of the past.

   Eckhart Tolle quotes: Acceptance looks like a passive state, but in reality, it brings something entirely new into this world. ’

2. How do you keep up life-long hobbies and find the right people to share them with?

   Nathalie: ‘This is an easy one! There's no better freedom than walking boots, a rucksack a group of like-minded friends, a tent, a mountain an adventure or better still, a cool winter morning, a wet suit, and a positive clan of swimmers. A group of painters, a studio with friends, a book club with a cryptic read, so I love to live and live to love!’

3. How have you managed to age gracefully and embrace it?

   Nathalie: ’Haha! I haven't aged gracefully, I'm not graceful at all.

   I'm very hard on myself, unforgiving, and constantly planning ahead.

   I am piling in as much as I can every year. Choosing unusual countries to visit with tougher treks, in deserts, swamps, and mountains, or searching for gorillas in Rwanda, pyramids in N. Sudan, walking along the glaciers in N. Pakistan or galloping on horseback along the plains of Mongolia, this keeps me alive. My love for swimming is very close to home and this discipline keeps me grounded, and reminds me of what I'm capable of, how to physically push my limits with swimmers who are so inspirational, a lifeline, my oxygen!

   Wherever you are, be there totally...’

2 quotes

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

“If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.”– Charles M. Schulz

1 podcast recommendation

See you back tomorrow!

Mar 🐙