The older I get, the more comfortable I become in my skin. The threat of wrinkles, on skin that has begun to relax in response to gravity, no longer torments me. I embrace it as my wonderful reality, a natural process that I feel honored to share with the women of this world.

In this month’s Women’s Wellness issue we are happy to bring to you information to encourage and empower women to live happier and more balanced lives. Dr. Christiane Northrup speaks of the importance of pursuing pleasure in life (see page 18). If daily responsibilities leave you feeling fatigued, then “Reclaim Vitality – Reap the Benefits of Enhanced Life Force” (page 20) may be of some help. And my personal favorite message can be found on page 21, where Dr. Laura Cox speaks of the high calling of birth doulas as they serve women before, during and after childbirth.

As women we have the opportunity to create and re-create ourselves throughout the many phases of our lives. I sometimes lie awake at night thinking of the unlimited possibilities available and praying for the strength and courage to live life to its fullest.

I leave you this month with a few of my favorite quotes from heroines who have traveled the path toward wholeness and peaceful existence. May these words bless us and give us a sense of empowerment to expand and live the lives our mothers and grandmothers dreamed we would live.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.

– Helen Keller

Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!

– Jane Austen

If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities.

– Ann Richards

Study as if you were going to live forever; live as if you were going to die tomorrow.

– Maria Mitchell

Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.

– Corita Kent

I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.

– Georgia O’Keeffe

Maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don't see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself.

– Marianne Williamson

In Love, joy, health and peace,

Stacy Hairfield