Category: Recommit

Mid Life Learning

Mid Life learning:

“We learn as much from sorrow as from joy, as much from illness as from health, from handicap as from avantage – and indeed perhaps more”. — Pearl S. Buck

Maybe.  Maybe not.  What do you think?  Many mid life adults are too busy to even contemplate this kind of thinking.  I know full well the medicinal affects of a busy schedule. It can be used as a shield to protect us from painful truths.

“In youth we learn; in age we understand”. — Marie von Ebner Eschenbach

Mid Life learning?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Be Afraid to Stop

“Be not afraid of going slowly;  be only afraid of standing still”. — Chinese Proverb

I just wrote a blog post at jeff noel.com about this very subject.  About wondering if now is the right time, if the current approach is the right approach.

This type of potential self-doubt and potential fear, can sabatoge us from breaking through to something we can be great at.  And something we should be great at.  It’s just that we are late bloomers and are playing catch up.

This time delay – from creating a compelling vision – to it actually materializing, takes way longer than most people can comprehend.  This is why people give up and stop,

So, be not afraid of going slow.   Be afraid of stopping.

Inspiration Nightmare In Mid Life

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours”. — Henry David Thoreau

Pretty good, to a point. Sort of saying I’m not buying it completely.

It seems Thoreau’s message is a bit misleading. We all know that life isn’t fair, and therefore, expecting the life we imagine will happen, is doomed.

What I hear is, “Go after your dreams.  Expect and be prepared for awful things to happen. But don’t let that stop you from living an extraordinary life”.

If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans. But don’t let that stop you.

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Unique @ Mid Life?

Unique @ Mid Life?

“You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost”. —  Martha Graham

Martha was no doubt talking about dance. I’m not.

This is about our unique purpose on our planet. Now. Before it’s too late, we should be on our way to fulfilling it.

Otherwise, as Martha Graham points out, something will be lost.

There is hope. Better late than never. But we must take steps forward. We can not stand still.

Well, we can stand still, or even retreat. That’s not the legacy I want to leave for younger people.

Life is challenging.  Be the change.

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Happiness In Mid Life

Happiness in Mid Life.

“The happiness of life is made up of the minute fractions – the little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment”.   — Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet

Everyday, I challenge myself to do as many “seemingly insignificant” things I can to bring happiness to others.

My mid-life challenge?  It’s easy for me, with people I can see. It’s much more difficult, so far, to do this with people I can’t physically see – like family and friends in others states or towns.

I pray I get better at this. The excuse I often lean on is, “It’s a two-way street, and it’s also their responsibility to reach out to me too.  So, if they’re not doing it, than maybe I don’t need to either”.

What a pathetic load of garbage. This is not the attitude I want my son (nine) to remember me having.

Looks like I have a lot of work to do this week. And I better get started. My mid-life happiness depends on it.

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