Janie says it best in Their Eyes Were Watching God, "Ah wants tuh utilize mahself all over." Love that book and especially that quote- translation- I want to make the most of myself.
We are made to make the most out of ourselves and this life we have. It doesn't feel right to us when we are shortchanging ourselves- when we are not living our full and complete life.
When you are young, you think it is normal to wake up, sit in traffic, go to work, come home, and do the same thing the next day. You saw your parents walk that path, and you saw them come home pissed and going off about one plate being in the sink. That anger came from frustration out of feeling incomplete- out of knowing they should be doing more. And then you tend to think that this is life. You don't know there can be another way, but by the time you realize it, you have a mortgage, bills, a family to provide for, and to top it off, you are not sure how to make it happen.
One of our charges in life is to figure out how to make it happen, to utilize ourselves all over. If you don't, you are going to die. Not have a heart attack, far worse, a slow painful drawn out death. Each day you don't pursue whatever it is for you, you rot away a little bit more on the inside.
Hitting this magical time in our lives, it is our duty to ourselves to go after it.
I would love to feature those of you who are making it happen - whatever that is for you. The courageous ones who have the faith and the optimism to believe in themselves enough and in their dreams enough to go after it at this fabulous wonderful time in your life.
We don't do midlife crises, forget that.
We only do midlife victories.
I like what you are saying here. I think it is vital we all go after something, anything that will make us happy. No matter how frivolous or time consuming or costly or whatever "rationalized as responsible" excuse we've been hiding behind. I believe it was Emerson that said "We are always getting ready to live but never living."
ReplyDeleteAt 40, most have the means and physical ability to do pretty much anything they'd like. So take advantage of your position in life. A quote we had in college was, " Don't cheat yourself, treat yourself." Not to something small and safe, like a milkshake. To an adventure. One that makes your heart race just at the thought of it.
I once wrote a headline for some silly thing that read "Courage is expensive. It will cost you all your fears." Cash in your cares. They're worth nothing in the end.