Tag: Retired

Mid Life Distance

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” — Victor Borge

Hope you enjoyed the rare Mid Life Celebration blog post yesterday.

Rare?  Yes.  In fact, it was probably the first of it’s kind. A joke.  And it brought joy to post it.

I have it in me.  Really, I do.  Every one has a sense of humor, even me, and laughter is good medicine.

Just yesterday, I was in the Atlanta airport heading to Dallas, and asked a couple with grown children, “Any advice on raising boys”?

With the husband still thinking of an answer, the wife instantaneously responded, “Have a sense of humor!”

What are the odds?

Boundarylessness Thanks

Read this carefully, Boundary-less-ness.

Pretty cool.  Saw it engraved on a trophy at somebody’s desk a few days ago.

Clever, isn’t it, to engrave it on a bronze plate and put it on a trophy? No boundaries.  No limits. Nice reminder.

However, it doesn’t seem worth the effort to try something without limits, simply because it’s probably, if not entirely, impossible.

Why waste time on something that can’t be done?

But thankfulness, now that’s a completely different story. Anyone can give thanks.  For anything.

There is never a point where we can’t go farther with our thankfulness. Ever.  If you challenge this, I’ll challenge you. You see, every day you wake and try to tell me I’m wrong, is one more thing you can be thankful for – breathe in your nostrils and the ability to make a choice.

Mid Life Creativity

Do you ever have moments, seasons, or even longer stages of life where you question many things? Or maybe you find yourself lost and confused. Or, overwhelmed.

Mid Life creativity is critical in moving from a mid life crisis to a mid life celebration.  Several times yesterday, I thought about it being Monday. Monday is “Twistee Treat Day”.  And so is Friday.

Seemingly insignificant, or trivial, at first glance, isn’t it?

You see, as a mid-life father of a nine-year old, in many ways, I was a “fish out of water” when our son was born.

What to do, right?  Well, it seemed like a good idea to find small ways to create lasting memories (traditions).

Perhaps the main reason this is challenging for me is because, when I tried to recall these things with my Dad and my Grandfather, I was coming up empty.  Both men loved me and I loved them.

I just simply don’t remember any special things that we did together.

Tomorrow I’ll share a creative mid-life list of some of the things that are so simple, and yet so significant, that they will last  life time.  Who wouldn’t want that?

Midlife Weekend Warrior

Saturday.  Finally.  “Thought it would never get here”, people exclaim. Can you relate?

We see it over and over and over, don’t we:

  • “Can’t wait for the weekend”.
  • “Thought the weekend would never get here”.
  • “The week is finally over”.
  • “The week was hell”.

If we are truly thankful for our midlife situation, wouldn’t it sound more like this?:

  • “Can’t wait to get started again on Monday”.
  • “The week flew by”.
  • “Wish I had one more day before Saturday”.
  • “That was the best week of my life”.

All I’m trying to say is thankfulness places a whole new perspective on how we see the world and our place in it. But you already know that, right?

Stuck?

Little bit. Maybe it’s the cold. Maybe not. Maybe it’s the time difference. Maybe not. Maybe it’s writer’s block.  Maybe not.

Whatever it is, I’m thankful for it.

What?

Thankful for writer’s block?  As a writer, are you telling me you’re thankful that you can’t write?

Absolutely!

The simple fact of addressing something honestly can be liberating. Plus, the fact that most of the time writing comes easy, well, that inevitably will lead to days where it doesn’t.

So, I’m abundantly thankful for both sides of the coin.  Are you? Make it a great, and thankful, day.  Because if you don’t, who will? If not today, when?  Carpe diem.