DANETTE HIBBERD - PROUD TO BE FABULOUS BEYOND FORTY
"I can challenge the way I age, and therefore so can you!"
Surprise, surprise! Yes, I am happier now than fifteen or twenty years ago. Despite some anxiety and doubt, with age comes wisdom and a maturity from loads of experience which far outweighs the excitement of youth.
As a child growing up in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, I spent many afternoons and weekends with my mother who was the owner and Principal of the Moresby Ballet School. Our family life centred around dance including ballet, jazz and tap with classes, concerts, examinations and annual pantomimes etc. When the time was right, I too became a teacher at the school, and continued for many years.
After the birth of my first child, a son, I began running fitness classes which were a combination of aerobics and various dance styles I had been accustomed to. My former body shape was back in no time.
These classes became extremely popular and I continued through my next pregnancy, teaching up until two weeks prior to the birth of my daughter. The fact that my body was in an extreme condition of wellness and fitness, the birth and recovery this time around was extremely quick and easy.
Moving to Sydney, Australia over twenty years ago, I opened a Jazzercise fitness franchise which continued my love of the combination of fitness and dance. Leading others to achieve health and fitness success through both movement and nutrition is such a positive experience, and a challenge I continue to love today. Combining this with working in the corporate world consumed my time and energies, and little was left for ME.
For so long, I was cocooned in my comfort zone, content to simply drift along each day, with all that was familiar to me. Happy to work for someone else ten hours plus each day, only to go to bed at night and wake the next morning to do it all over again. However, uninvited and unexpectedly, that all changed.
In just a matter of seconds, an accident resulting in three breaks to my spine, altered my life. Following surgery, I spent months lying on my back and my days of enjoying physical activities of aerobics, dancing and having a wonderful time all suddenly stopped. So too, did those jobs that come like second nature to women such as doing housework, cooking, laundry and the weekly shopping.
For endless weeks, staring at the ceiling, I endured hours of not only physical, but emotional agony. Depressed, anxious, scared, guilty, doubtful, insecure – you name it. If there was any negative emotion to be had, I experienced it. Eventually I returned to work, doggedly getting through each day surviving on a cocktail of painkillers and endless treatments of physiotherapy, acupuncture and medical appointments, until eventually at 49 years of age and on a medical recommendation, I had to quit. What was I to do now that I no longer had a job? Should I simply feel sorry for myself? The answer to this burning question was an emphatic no!
My greatest learning was the moment I discovered my injury was not an obstacle. I couldn't let it defeat me, as I still had a long list of things I wanted to do before I departed this world. With the support of those closest to me, I couldn't leap over that obstacle, but I learned to crawl around it. I also discovered that with the emotional strength I knew I had deep inside me, I could believe it was possible to achieve those things I had dreamed of accomplishing as a little girl. I was not going to miss out on feeling, experiencing, being a part of and achieving the things I had forgotten or decided were not possible. It was simple. I had a choice: stagnate and shrivel, or pick myself up and move forward.
With the right kind of outlook, preparation and action, you can really make a difference in whether you are in control of your life, or sadly, a victim.
I chose not to be a victim! Instead, I founded www.fabat40.com, with the aim to inspire, motivate and educate women beyond forty to empower themselves and their lives; to find, flaunt and fulfil the goddess that is in each and every one of us. Discovering the amazing strategies in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) I studied and became a Master Practitioner, then progressing to become an NLP Trainer.
Realising my dream of writing, I have now begun releasing my Fabulous Beyond Forty series, and established the wonderful community of the most fabulous women with www.FabulousBeyondForty.com.
And what an amazing journey I am now experiencing. I just love it, and cannot believe I am fortunate to now be able to live the life of my dreams, and at the same time enjoy and spread such passion.
Always remember my motto:
"Where there's a will, there's a way"
I challenge each and every one of you - women Fabulous Beyond Forty - to find that will and discover the way.
Here at Fabulous Beyond Forty I hope to pass on to you, the
"motivation, inspiration and education"
to make your own way to achieve your own dreams and desires..
Remember, life is a journey, so let's travel together and make things happen.
Be Asolutely Fabulous Beyond Forty with me,
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Regardless of where you are positioned on the age chart - still in your 30’s, fabulous forties or fantastic fifties, even the sassy sixties or savvy seventies - you are still breathing life into your body and there is no way that you have passed your used by date just yet.
Release Date: june 2008
Be the first to have it!
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