The short answer is yes, but it takes us longer to accept the fact that we need to, and even longer to decide what’s next!
And then there’s all those irritating new tricks we are forced to learn because of unwelcome changes in our health, our employment status or our marital status.
I don’t know about you, but ever since I hit midlife it’s been change, change, change. I feel like I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into a whole new life, resisting it at every turn in the road.
I was scared to death to get a divorce, but I did it anyway. Even more afraid of losing my job, but I also survived that somehow. And you cannot imagine the terror I felt when faced with trying out a whole new career at 50! That turned out to be the most rewarding change of all!
Now I find myself unbelievably HAPPY, even though I didn’t even want to go down this road in the first place. Explain that one to me! I guess it’s just another one of those MYSTERIES OF MIDLIFE…
I’m now busy preparing to do a presentation with Katy Piotrowski for our Larimer County September Symposium on September 25th. Our topic: How to teach old dogs fabulous new tricks. Our goal is to motivate others to take a chance on changing their lives.
At the last talk I presented, the first question at the end was, do you have to hit bottom before you can really start changing your life? My only response was, “I did.” If those fortuitous misfortunes had not happened, I don’t know where I’d be now. I apparently needed to get desperate enough before I could admit to myself that my life was not working, thus inspiring me to change everything.
At the risk of sounding pathologically optimistic, I now see just about every obstacle that I bump into in my life as an opportunity to learn more about myself and get better at something.
For example, divorce is simply nature’s way of telling you that you don’t quite have this whole marriage thing figured out yet. But that’s OK! Do-overs ARE ALLOWED!
Job loss is nature’s way of telling you that it’s time to change something major, and try to get it right this time. Lucky us, our old job didn’t want us, now we get to go do something we might actually enjoy!
Thank goodness (and my toxic boss) I lost my last library job! After twenty-five years, I REALLY needed a change! And just imagine all the great things it did for my brain elasticity.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Like a lot of things, learning new things is easier if it’s a habit. Sometimes life deals us a lot of opportunities, other times we have to make them. Step out of your comfort zone. Trust in a net. From the traditional agency world to the dot com and new digital agency world that encompasses everything digital…if I didn’t evolve I’d be obsolete and bored to death. I’m almost always the only one my age at the digital agencies I consult with. Fear is motivating and invigorating. I know there are a lot braver souls out there than me…and they inspire me.
Thanks Lia:
It’s funny how at times it feels impossible to take risks in your life. And at other times it almost seems addicting! It depends on your beliefs and attitudes about change. I see potential in all life changes now! I am open to getting better at whatever I choose to do.
Laura Lee