Life gets mighty precious when there’s less of it to waste ¬ Bonnie Raitt
Midlife – many of our thoughts about it remain in the Dark Ages. These thoughts and opinions will hamper who we are and what we’re doing … if we let them.
We’ve come this far and now there are so many of us who have a need to break free of the ‘standards’ offered to us. We are finally ready to do something far-reaching and soul satisfying and we’re ready to do it right now.
I know, I’ve felt it. You probably have too. Is it as though we’ve reached this point in life where we’re assuming that our options have become limited, that we’ve just about exhausted all our opportunities? Is it as though it is an urgent calling that is screaming, ‘Do something damn it before it’s too late!’
Oh no; life will be exactly what you have programmed it to be but it can be so much more if you just allow it.
You see, your inner thoughts are those that will govern what you feel is possible for you now. Your thoughts – no one else’s. Your thoughts alone can create a cascade of amazing opportunities that can give you the freedom to live your life as one you designed. It is a very personal choice and one that you have the power to choose.
I remember when I was living my twenties as though I would remain eternally in those years. I was always happy to do something, try something, and be something. It was ‘yes, I’ll do that,’ and ‘yes, why don’t we go there?’ It was yes, yes, yes.
Then in my mid-thirties it became more frequently, no. ‘No, I haven’t got the time today,’ or ‘No, I just can’t’, or just, ‘no, not today.’ ‘No’ became my buzz word. It was so automatic that it enveloped me in a kind of comfortable cocoon. And I was content to stay there until one day not so long ago, the years began to catch up with me and my cocoon I noticed, was just a little too tight. I realised too many ‘No’s can suffocate a person. ‘No’ can be very toxic to your life.
Then I began to think seriously. ‘What will I do with the time I have left?’
Middle age is not a turning point toward death; rather it’s a turning point toward life and it occurred to me that it has taken me fifty five years to grow up! What I learned on that particular journey is invaluable and I know I didn’t learn it for nothing.
While aging can certainly make us feel humble, it also makes us realise that life is indeed precious but it is also very fragile.
If you hadn’t experienced the joys and the lows of adversity and the highs of bliss and euphoria, you could never have accomplished the wonderful things you have achieved but you have so much more to do. Much more.
There’s a flame within that burns no matter how old you think you are and it is not too late to throw some kindling on it. It is never too late to begin something else. In fact, you are right on time.
The future you once were thinking of is now your present moment. Perhaps there are times when you berate yourself for not living your past years as thoroughly as you could have. Don’t! You were doing the best you knew how to do it at the time.
But you’re wiser now and you finally get it. This moment is the one that needs to be fulfilled, not the past. And while you’re living this moment, because you’re able to multi-task, you can see the present that is filled with thoughts that keep you sustained and behaving and interacting with others in a way that keeps you true to yourself.
You now understand that if you’re living this moment in fear or in lack or separation, then you cannot expect to receive anything other than more of the same. Change your thoughts and embrace that subtle affirmation ‘I have enough’ and you always will.
And don’t become so involved in your interests and passions that your emotional side is only available one day a week to those you care about. That on every Sunday, they have you and your undivided attention and every other day they just long for you.
It is important to appreciate everything in every day. Be grateful for what you have and to do your absolute in the present moment …
… because it is the only moment you’ll ever have.
essence of intention 