The first half of life...
As I sat at the dentist office the other day in between getting my fourth and fifth cavities filled...
***Side Note: I have four more to go on the other side of my head tomorrow. Haven't been to the damn dentist in 5 or 6 years. I clearly learned my lesson people. I floss occasionally and brush at least twice a day...GO TO THE DENTIST TWICE A YEAR!!!***
...they handed me the magazine Ladies Home Journal while I patiently and numbly waited for the dentist. My first thought: "Do they think I am a fifty year old women, why are they handing me this magazine over, say...a People magazine?" Of course, I am not saying anything against a fifty year old women...I love you all, but I just think that magazine tends to gear towards women in their 40's, 50's, 60's and then some.
Clearly I was put in my place when I started reading this magazine. There was an article interviewing Katie Couric. She was talking about turning 55 and how it was a little scary for her. She spoke about entering into the second half of her life and how it made her realize all of the things she wanted to still accomplish and how it made her realize all of the things that were REALLY important.
For some reason thinking about life in that way stopped me in my tracks. Let's say the average life expectancy for a person in this day and age ranges from 76-82 years which means the first half of your life is over at the tender age of around 40.
Suddenly writing about being nervous to turn 30 seemed down right silly. Suddenly my 30's are seeming like the last final years to put my life in order...the final years to make sure everything is on track so that I am ready and prepared to relax and enjoy the final 40 or so years of my life (the second half)
I don't mean this to sound like I am in full panic mode...because that is not the case. This was just a wake up call for me. It just made me stop and and remember how short life really is...how I need to worry about the things that matter, the things I can control...and stop worrying about the things that don't matter in the long run, stop stressing about the things I have no control over.
I am still in the first half of my life...hopefully...and I was reminded reading this that I need to take advantage of that. I am almost 32 years old....not 82. I have so MANY options and adventures laid out in front of me and now is the time to really live. Now is the time for me to be as active as possible...while my knees still work. Now is the time for me to explore what really inspires and motivates me in life and follow that!
My 20's were there so that I could make mistakes and figure out who I really am and gain confidence in that. I learned so much in my 20's but I enjoy being in my 30's.
That article reminded me that I need to finally face my fears and jump head first into that abyss of the unknown and swim my way to the other side grabbing hold of all that is important to me and inspiring to me. (That sentence may have been a bit dramatic, ha)
In the second half of my life I want to be a person that doesn't look back and wonder why I didn't grab a hold of life and really live while I could...I don't want to turn 40 and realize I haven't been living the life I want to be living... I don't want to turn 40 and be uninspired and unhappy and wonder "what if I would have done this...?"
Of course age is just a number, and I am in no way saying that by the time you turn 40 if you haven't done all the things you have wanted to do you should give up and hide in a dark room...no! I am simply saying 40 because of the article...40 is just a number here.
My point is simple: I don't want to wake up one day and realize I wasted my life worrying and not doing. I don't want to wake up and realize I played it safe but at the cost of being uninspired. I want to be happy...and that is all.
And so...I hope to blog a little bit more about the first half of my life and how I am living every moment in that moment. I hope to remember this wake up call and write about my journey into the second half of my life. I am so happy right now and I intend on remaining in this state of happiness and building on it.
Life is short...whether in the first half or second half of your life...there is still time. Live...smile...love...be fearless...laugh...life is short. Surround yourself with who and what is most important to you every single day....and go to the dentist twice a year :)
***Side Note: I have four more to go on the other side of my head tomorrow. Haven't been to the damn dentist in 5 or 6 years. I clearly learned my lesson people. I floss occasionally and brush at least twice a day...GO TO THE DENTIST TWICE A YEAR!!!***
...they handed me the magazine Ladies Home Journal while I patiently and numbly waited for the dentist. My first thought: "Do they think I am a fifty year old women, why are they handing me this magazine over, say...a People magazine?" Of course, I am not saying anything against a fifty year old women...I love you all, but I just think that magazine tends to gear towards women in their 40's, 50's, 60's and then some.
Clearly I was put in my place when I started reading this magazine. There was an article interviewing Katie Couric. She was talking about turning 55 and how it was a little scary for her. She spoke about entering into the second half of her life and how it made her realize all of the things she wanted to still accomplish and how it made her realize all of the things that were REALLY important.
For some reason thinking about life in that way stopped me in my tracks. Let's say the average life expectancy for a person in this day and age ranges from 76-82 years which means the first half of your life is over at the tender age of around 40.
Suddenly writing about being nervous to turn 30 seemed down right silly. Suddenly my 30's are seeming like the last final years to put my life in order...the final years to make sure everything is on track so that I am ready and prepared to relax and enjoy the final 40 or so years of my life (the second half)
I don't mean this to sound like I am in full panic mode...because that is not the case. This was just a wake up call for me. It just made me stop and and remember how short life really is...how I need to worry about the things that matter, the things I can control...and stop worrying about the things that don't matter in the long run, stop stressing about the things I have no control over.
I am still in the first half of my life...hopefully...and I was reminded reading this that I need to take advantage of that. I am almost 32 years old....not 82. I have so MANY options and adventures laid out in front of me and now is the time to really live. Now is the time for me to be as active as possible...while my knees still work. Now is the time for me to explore what really inspires and motivates me in life and follow that!
My 20's were there so that I could make mistakes and figure out who I really am and gain confidence in that. I learned so much in my 20's but I enjoy being in my 30's.
That article reminded me that I need to finally face my fears and jump head first into that abyss of the unknown and swim my way to the other side grabbing hold of all that is important to me and inspiring to me. (That sentence may have been a bit dramatic, ha)
In the second half of my life I want to be a person that doesn't look back and wonder why I didn't grab a hold of life and really live while I could...I don't want to turn 40 and realize I haven't been living the life I want to be living... I don't want to turn 40 and be uninspired and unhappy and wonder "what if I would have done this...?"
Of course age is just a number, and I am in no way saying that by the time you turn 40 if you haven't done all the things you have wanted to do you should give up and hide in a dark room...no! I am simply saying 40 because of the article...40 is just a number here.
My point is simple: I don't want to wake up one day and realize I wasted my life worrying and not doing. I don't want to wake up and realize I played it safe but at the cost of being uninspired. I want to be happy...and that is all.
And so...I hope to blog a little bit more about the first half of my life and how I am living every moment in that moment. I hope to remember this wake up call and write about my journey into the second half of my life. I am so happy right now and I intend on remaining in this state of happiness and building on it.
Life is short...whether in the first half or second half of your life...there is still time. Live...smile...love...be fearless...laugh...life is short. Surround yourself with who and what is most important to you every single day....and go to the dentist twice a year :)