Every day we have a choice ~ to dwell on the past or focus on today. Ask yourself: what can I do today to bring me one step closer to my dream? We have this moment…now. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to make the most of it?
A NEW DECADE – A New Opportunity
Life goes by so quickly. It seems I turned around and in a flash my kids were grown and I’m nearing sixty. Age is just a number to me. I don’t feel old. I certainly don’t feel sixty, but I haven’t a clue what sixty is supposed to feel like so I can’t be certain. It sure doesn’t feel like what it looked like to me when I was young! My body is showing the effects of time, but I often forget to notice and the impact is minimal.
Moving from fifty to sixty was difficult and challenging, but unlike what I imagined, it has also been extraordinarily fulfilling. Like most mothers I cried when my kids left home and like most daughters I cried when my father died and then my mother. I churned with regret for too long about how I spent my youth and lived in fear of the future even longer. But through hard work and the invaluable support and guidance of friends, mentors and books, I ventured onto a path that feels like the one I am meant to be on. Trust me it’s not always obvious or blissful ~ but it is amazing and worth getting up for in the morning.
I think the fifties are a the decade of change, the narrow, treacherous pathway that takes us from life then to life now ~ from seeking to being ~ from reaching for the future to living in the moment.
Life is richer now. My dreams are more meaningful, realistic and attainable. I have today. You have today. We owe it to ourselves to make the most of it.
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What a beautiful post! As someone who has crossed over into 60land, I can say that physically I feel the same–not like I imagined 60 would feel like. Emotionally and spiritually, I can sense a subtle shift: time is precious, so I feel more urgency about satisfying dreams I have for my future, one I hope will be filled with creativity and adventure. On the other hand, I find myself spontaneously recalling long past events and relationships, like turning over an interesting rock one has picked up by the shore. I thought that “living in the past” was something old people did. Well, here I am!
Thank you Kathy! So glad you stopped by. I relate to everything you said ~ life is a bit like a kaleidoscope now ~ shades of color, light an dark, turning and changing but remaining a cohesive unit ~ and creating an unexpected brilliance ~ the depth and breadth of which is not possible in youth.
Nice post and timely since my daughter leaves in two days to go to college across the nation. Waa haa!
I know how hard that is! It is a period of upheaval and intense emotions ~ sadness, loss, joy ~ all you can do is ride the wave. Life will settle down again. If you need support you will find it here and among people who have been through it. Keep me posted.
These are wise thoughts an wise words. I enjoyed this a great deal. Very much in tune with my sense for life @55 going on 60! It’s like suddenly life makes a bit more sense than it used to or maybe it just feels that way. But as Tolle would say (A New Earth, The Power of Now): “Whatever you accept completely will take you to peace, including the acceptance that you cannot accept, that you are in resistance.” Perhaps, we begin to find “peace” at this point in life because we finally accept its terms: the good, the bad, the ugly. And, yes, it’s all about making the moment count and not worrying so much about the future.
I love what you said here DazyDay “we begin to find peace at this point in life because we finally accept its terms” ~ that’s it in a nutshell!
Hi! i’ve been reading a couple of your blogs and really enjoy them! The one about every day being a
choice was good. The experience i’ve been having, probably the last couple of years, but moreso
this year has been weighing what is important to pursue and what isn’t. I am in that process right now. I am 54-a young child to you probably! But nonetheless, i am feeling a lot of shifting going
on inside me. I am going through menopause, moving our business into another city/bldg/house.
Anyway, being a Christian, i am looking at the eternal more than the temporary right now when
i’ve been weighing what to pursue and what to let go. I was trying to keep myself looking as young
as possible. Looks mean’t everything to me when i was younger. Well, despite my very best efforts,
i developed very wrinkly thighs among other things! Despite being fairly thin and in fairly good health! So, yes, i will keep my appearance up as best i can, but i am not going to stress over it
anymore! Our beauty on the inside influences and impresses more people than outside beauty ever will. And then i’m looking at the legacy i will leave behind, whether it has eternal or temporal value to leave to my kids, friends, church, basically the people i’ve been in and will be in contact with. So, thanks for the good articles! They have definitely guided me further in this journey.
Julie britton