Barbara Phillips is passionate about supporting women aging healthfully, gracefully, and with a sense of humor!

OlderWiserWomen™ is an information packed website for women. We talk about the Wiser Body (the physical you), the Wiser Being (the emotional/spiritual you), the Wiser Mind (finances, mental health, etc), and the Wiser Village (community of women, resources). Of course there is the Wiser Shop where we recommend products and services in addition to our own.

OlderWiserWomen™ is actually the first of many websites devoted to women. We also have the OlderWiserWomen™ blog (www.OlderWiserWomen.com/wp) , the HealthyAgingForWomen (www.HealthyAgingForWomen.com) blog and the Acting Your Age (www.ActingYourAge.com) . Coming up is "AskAboutYou" a fee based confidential place where you can get your health related questions answered by professional licensed and board certified health professionals.

I've been a RN since 1978 (wow, where did the time go??), and was educated as a nurse practitioner first in 1988. In 1998 I completed my 2nd nurse practitioner program and received a Masters of Nursing this time around. I am board certified both as a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner and a Family Nurse Practitioner. Of course in between all that I studied a variety of things including doing pre-med. My professional working background included many years in critical care before embarking as a primary care provider.

On August 1st of this year, I opened my own primary care practice (and thus have been pretty scarce online). While I do provide your standard health/medical care, our focus is more wellness/alternative based and includes a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture.

My women patients began asking me questions about aging. Soon I started getting requests to write a book. I declined and suggested that several of them write the book they wanted. We went back and forth for a year before I said okay...you write the stories and I'll put it together. In the meantime, I wondered about putting it online and collecting stories from women around the country. One morning I woke very early with one word on my mind... OlderWiserWomen™.

We've done a few different things over the years. We've had a few tele-classes, an email course, and of course a newsletter. OlderWiserWomen™ also has the OlderWiserWomen Guide "Tips for Successful Aging and Vibrant Living". In addition, I was published in "Inspiration to Realization, Vol II" - my chapter is titled "Aging Is an Inside Job".

There does not seem to be a typical Some women are in their 30's while I know of at least a few women in her later 80's. Our newsletter currently goes out to women in 28 different countries around the world.

While I think planning is important to any endeavor, I found that I can get bogged down by too much planning. Life is short. Take a lesson from the women who have gone on before us...they all say..."just do it."

I'd say one of the hardest things for me is to network. I'm a total INFP and I often find myself content to just observe and be quite. So I have to make myself get out there and network. My second challenge (and right now, it's truly my biggest challenge) is finding the time for the various projects I want to complete or start. And that includes the marketing.

At the end of your life, will you look back and have regrets because you did not follow your dream, because you did not give birth to a passion?

Life is very, very short. It can end in an instant, or last for several decades. Either way...it's too short. Life for today...everyday.

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