Following my previous interview with Jaqueline DePaul (click here for blog post), she instantly said that I needed to join the Forever Fierce Revolution (Facebook group) and that I would love to meet Catherine and the group’s members. Boy, was she ever right!

The main mission of Catherine’s group is to empower middle-aged women to know they matter. The goal is to understand that age is just a number and their lives are important. The group also illustrates to younger generations that aging is not a terrible thing as the media portrays.

What I found out is that this group is so much more than that. It is a family. There are about 6,000 exceptional women in the group who take time to support one another in any way possible. All the negativity you find online is nowhere to be found in this group. For me, it was also a confirmation that a group like this is achievable in my niche as well. I hope to succeed in creating a community of women who suffered and survived, who were broken and fixed. A place without judgement, filled with women who are willing to take the time to be supportive of other women.

As I scrolled through Catherine's posts, I saw some of her photos and videos in the hospital. She was shaking, not able to stand for long and surely unable to walk. I couldn't connect the stunning, healthy, and vibrant woman I had seen in subsequent photos with these previous pictures and videos. I had to find out more!

Last week’s blog post is only a small fraction of Catherine’s story. I am sure that she will tell the world more because that is the kind of generous person she is. If it can be inspiring and motivational, she will be front and center. 

Perfect Timing

A few days before our interview I felt a bit down, so I decided to take some time for myself and watch Netflix. This is something I do not do often, and I don't follow any shows. So, I started searching for something to watch. When I saw The Secret, I thought this could be the right time to watch.

The Secret explains about how your mindset can change your reality. It goes on to showcase how we are all energy and that thoughts can transform so many aspects of our lives. Catherine and I spoke a few days later. The message was repeated, this time with the accounts of her life and experience.

The Personal Impact of Catherine’s Story

1. We can transform our reality, health, and future by changing our mindset and visualizing the reality we would like to achieve. We can improve our physical health as well as our mental health, but that doesn’t mean that the work is simple or easy. If done properly, we can completely rewrite our future. Visualization is a powerful tool: see yourself healthy, see yourself wealthy, see yourself successful. It may just come true as it did for Catherine.
2. What middle-age means is whatever you want it to mean. If you want to be tired, old, and unattractive, that is your prerogative. It is not what middle-aged has to mean. Just as you can change your health with your outlook, you can change the age you feel you are at. How you feel is more significant than what it is listed on your birth certificate. You don’t need permission to live the life you want to live. You don’t need to follow the rules of society. You just need to want, visualize, and do the hard work to achieve your goals. It took Lyme disease, a near-death experience, and being over 50 for Catherine to change her life’s trajectory to the one that she deserved. It happened when she allowed positive thoughts in and welcomed what she dreamt for herself into her life. It is never too late.
   
   
3. Family is not only the one you were born into but rather something that you can create. There are reasons you were born into your biological family. There are lessons to be learned, skills to gain, experiences (good and bad) that you have to go through. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t create another family. There are people that will fulfill things that the family you were born into cannot. There is no shame in that; the contrary is true. There is something very powerful about building and putting together a group of people who will love you, support you, teach you, and share their wisdom with you.

Purpose in Hardship

Often, people feel that their hardships are their weaknesses. Rather, those exact parts of our lives that feel so messed up and out of whack, are in fact the exact events and situations from which we achieve so much wisdom and strength. We must celebrate and honor the knowledge we earn. Through that process, we can put together the pieces with gold. 

Catherine’s health transformation was inspiring. She went from such a bad place to the beautiful, vibrant woman that she has become. Catherine's story is so motivating, because it reiterates that I can still turn the clock back and take action to feel more beautiful, more active, and more vibrant myself. I think I will start by visualizing myself at the peak of my energy; maybe that will help give me strength when I am pulling all-nighters working on the Kintsugi Collection and community! 

Read Catherine's Blog on a collaboration we did! 

http://bit.ly/fiercesisters

You can follow Catherine:
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catherinegraceo/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFierce50/
Sign up for her Newsletter: https://catherinegraceo.com/
Podcast: https://catherinegraceo.com/forever-fierce/

We would love to hear your loving comments. If you have a Kintsugi story and would like to share in order to empower and inspire, please email sales@mikahfashion.com title Kintsugi Interview.