There's Always a Way: What October Taught Me About Finding What Flows

My Journey from Summer Anxiety to October Clarity (And What's Next)

Hi again—it’s Diana from Healthy Seniors.

If you’re new here, welcome! This is a project I started at the beginning of this year, where every month I take on a personal challenge. At the end of each month, I write about what actually happened and what I learned. You can catch up on the journey so far: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September.

October arrived with a quiet determination I didn’t quite expect. After September’s reflections and those two powerful weekend events, I thought I had things figured out. But life has a way of reminding you that clarity and action are two very different things.

If you’ve been following along with my monthly challenges, you know that starting in the summer, things began to catch up with me. For several years now, my main source of income has been selling our physical Healthy Seniors products on Amazon US. But this past year hasn’t gone well. A flood of cheap competitors entered the market, and it got harder and harder for a small family business like ours to get noticed without allocating big budgets to promotions we simply can’t afford.

That’s one of the reasons I decided to start this newsletter and begin selling our products on our own website, not just through Amazon. But things move slowly. New audiences take time to build. Trust takes time to earn. And somewhere in the middle of all that waiting, the summer months became rough. I felt stuck. Anxious. Like I was pushing against a door that wouldn’t budge.

But then came that mindset shift I wrote about last month—choosing instead of “should” and “must.” And it really did help. I remembered something I read in The Well Lived Life by Gladys McGarey: if you feel stuck, just find something that flows and focus on that. (I really need to write a full article about this book—it’s amazing, and I think you’d love it.) And I realized something important. These past months, I’ve genuinely enjoyed working on this newsletter. It’s given me a new sense of purpose. I feel like I’m making a small difference for seniors worldwide, not just in the US.

So in October, I leaned into that. I worked hard on how I could offer even more value. I spent hours building something I’m really proud of—a paid membership for the newsletter. Subscribers now get access to deeper resources, exclusive content, and tools I’ve been developing to truly support healthy aging in a practical, meaningful way.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can find all the details here:

What matters most to me is that it comes from a place of service, not desperation. I’m building something I believe in, not just scrambling to replace what’s slipping away.

And here’s what October taught me: there is always a way. You just have to find what already brings you joy and build on that. It sounds simple, maybe even obvious. But when you’re in the thick of worry, it’s easy to forget. I was so focused on fixing what wasn’t working that I almost missed what was working—this space, this community, this newsletter that lights me up every time I sit down to write.

Now, let’s talk about that other intention I set for October: saying “I love you” out loud.

Oh, that was harder than I thought.

It felt so awkward at first. The words would catch in my throat, like I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to. But I kept at it. And slowly, it started to feel more natural. My son, though? He was mortified. The first time I said it clearly and directly, he squirmed and looked away like I’d just announced something embarrassing in front of his friends. It made me laugh, but it also made me realize something: I should have started earlier. (Yes, I see the “should” sneaking back in—but this time it’s less about guilt and more about intention for the future.)

My daughter handled it a bit better, though she still gave me that teenage look that says, “Mom, I know.“ And my husband? He smiled. I think he understood what I was trying to do, even if it felt unfamiliar for both of us at first.

The point isn’t perfection. The point is practice. And I’m getting better at it.

October wasn’t all breakthroughs and smooth sailing, though. There were still hard days. Days when the Amazon numbers felt like a weight on my chest. Days when I questioned whether any of this was going to work. But I kept coming back to that simple truth: choose. I choose to focus on what flows. I choose to believe there’s a way forward. I choose to show up for this community, for my family, for myself.

So what’s my focus for November?

Explore with joy.

That’s it. That’s the intention.

I want to experiment with this newsletter, try new things, see what resonates with you. I want to approach the paid membership launch not with anxiety, but with curiosity and excitement. I want to explore new ways to connect with seniors, to offer value, to build something sustainable that also feels alive.

And personally? I want to keep saying “I love you” until it feels as natural as breathing. I want to notice the small moments with my kids before they grow up even more. I want to give myself permission to play, to try, to fail, to learn.

November is a month of transitions—the air gets colder, the days get shorter, the holidays start creeping into view. But it’s also a month of possibility. A chance to explore what’s next without the pressure of having it all figured out.

So I’m choosing curiosity over certainty. Joy over perfection. Movement over stuckness.

And I’d love to hear from you. What did October teach you? What are you choosing to explore in November? Sometimes the best ideas come from sharing our journeys with each other.

One more thing—if you’ve enjoyed this newsletter so far and found value in what I share here, I’d love for you to consider becoming a premium member. Honestly, it’s not only about getting paid. It’s about sending me the message that what I do matters and makes a difference. That signal means more to me than you might realize, especially during months when doubt creeps in. Your support tells me to keep going, to keep exploring, to keep showing up for this community we’re building together.

Here’s to a month of joyful exploration—and finding the way forward, one step at a time. Would love to hear about your plans, so feel free to leave a comment below: