Are you living your life to the fullest? Are you happy, satisfied and content with what you are doing and who you are? Have you planned to live the remaining portion of your life so that you have no regrets? Whatever your age, NOW is the time to choose your life’s direction.
An anonymous quote states, “A person is not old until regrets take the place of plans/dreams.” This ought to reassure you that it is never too late to choose a different direction. Hopefully, when you are 80, 90, maybe even 100-years-old, you will be able to look back on your life and know that you have had no regrets. However, this does not just happen by fate. It happens by deliberate planning and setting goals, and then living according to that plan, vision, and mission.
Aging is a funny thing. The only time in our lives we want to get old is when we are kids. A child will anticipate getting older and tell you his age with a number fraction: “I’m four and a half.” Teens are always wishing to be older. Eventually you become 21. But then you turn 30! Oooohhh, what happened? Before you know it, you are pushing 40. In a blink of an eye, you reach 50. Then you make it to 60. You have now built up so much speed that you hit 70. And so on until, if you make it to 100, you become like a little kid again: “I’m 100 and a half.” We honestly hope everyone reading this will live to a healthy 100 and a half!
Most of us fear the aging process, but we should use it to motivate us. If you already feeling like life is just passing you by, it’s never too late to take back control. Consider implementing the following steps:
Identify YOUR life’s priorities: the things you live and get up for everyday. Ask yourself if your life is balanced personally and professionally. If not, make some changes.
Write down your goals. They must be realistic, attainable and visible. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants, “cant’s” into cans, dreams into plans and plans into reality.
Care for yourself. We need to make ourselves a priority so that we will be healthy and well enough to live the life we want.
Choose your life’s direction and plan it wisely. Think of yourself as a builder, and your life is a blueprint of a house. Every day you hammer a nail, place a board or erect a wall. You must build wisely—it is the only life you will ever build. Your life should always be under construction. It is the result of a detailed plan with choices, attitudes and a purpose. Your life tomorrow will be the direct result of the choices and plans you make today.
Rally those close to you—spouse, family, colleagues and friends—with your renewed passion and energy. It will give you much needed support, and it might rub off on them too!
If you don’t choose a direction and plan for your life, you will always be at the mercy of everyone else’s plans. Understand that this is a ride and you only get one trip. When you feel like you are in charge of your life, you will reclaim an incredible sense of power.
So, age, but don’t grow up. Live your life to the fullest by choosing your own direction. I challenge you to write down your life’s mission statement and post it so that you can use it as a daily reminder of how you want to thoroughly enjoy the only the ride you will ever be on.
Tom Kidd, owner of Balanced Wellness Services (www.kidd4kids.org), is a speaker, author, adjunct college professor, consultant, parent and grandparent. His goal is to “promote living your life with passion and purpose by intention.” He can be contacted at 715-456-4856 or tomdebki@triwest.net.