As I reflect at the end of 2023, I realize I haven’t posted a story at all this year.  I’ve gotten away from my love of writing and focused on my other loves of creating & photography.  It is easy to let time get away from you when life is so busy with day jobs and side gigs but I will not let another year pass me by without doing more of all the things I love, including writing.   

I have a major milestone birthday coming up this year and I’ve decided this next part of life will be filled with things that bring me joy.  Whether writing, drawing, photography, or traveling more.  I am making a stand that my life is ready to be filled with more things that I want to do instead of things I have to do.  We all have things we must do.  Adults must earn a living, (the lights don’t magically stay on), and we should work, we all need something to do in life, to contribute to society as well as to ourselves, but far too many of us work jobs that do not use our strengths or lighten our soul and I understand why; we have responsibilities.  We have to.  

Some are fortunate enough to have followed a path that brought them joy and a paycheck, most have taken what job was available to cover the rent, but the good news is, it’s never too late to follow a dream.  I absolutely love stories of people in their golden years going back to school to get a degree, changing careers, or starting a business that they have always wanted to try.  It is a reminder that as long as you are alive, you can still achieve anything you want.  As the writer George Eliot said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”  I think we too often put ourselves on a timeline.  Society celebrates the achievements of those under 30 or 40 but if you exceed those numbers there is no festival in your honor.  Contrary to what we are taught to believe, life is not a race.  We all get to where we need to be when we are ready.  Even those who get there before they are ready, sometimes do so with negative consequences.  

Your dreams are yours for a reason.  Only you can see them to fruition.  If you have ever thought, it is too late, you are wrong.  The only limit to your ability is your willingness to try.  When we were children, we believed that adults were fearless and could do anything.  It’s not until you are an adult that you learn that fear lives in everyone.  You put dreams aside because of fear of failure or the belief that you’ve aged out of opportunities to be successful.  People live too long to have such a short window of accomplishment.  Don’t limit yourself, experience and wisdom come with age and these benefits are timeless.  Live your dreams, forget your age.