It took a lot to be here! I still find technology challenging but not completely impossible. Full of headaches at times, especially if you lose all of what you just took hours to put down on the page. A word to the wise would be to ALWAYS save your work as you go along. Don’t wait until the piece is finished only to accidentally touch the wrong key and lose it all. So, how did I get here in the first place? I’ll tell you, by deciding to be brave and become a doer, and accomplish my dreams to reconfigure my world. I am not going to let this opportunity pass me by to achieve a long standing desire to become an author. I am forging ahead into the unknown to change my destiny. Here are three steps why you can be encouraged to do some reconfiguring in your own world to achieve the very same in your mid life season.
STEP ONE: RECOGNIZE YOUR NEED FOR CHANGE
I am in, what many would call, the empty nest season. Well, that is only about half true since it is only semi-empty. I know one day it will be entirely devoid of all the activity, noise, and the emotional exchanges that once encompassed our family life. What once used to be a full-time scene has now dwindled to the final quarter in the game. I can see it transpiring as I write this sentence. Though I have my youngest adult children still at home, they are out testing their wings on a daily basis by working and attending college in pursuit of their own independence. When they are home, it is rarely other than in their room doing assignments, gaming with friends, or sleeping. I hear the shower and washing machine going from time to time. Food disappears so I know they are still present. The time we once spent as a family body is being reconfigured into a new sequence of different and changing directions. Thankfully, there is still communication and much love in our relationships for them to have the space to mature and evolve.
Even with the blessings of only being a semi-empty nester, the closing of that chapter in my life is on the immediate horizon. I feel the echoes of what used to be as though it was today. I long to be as involved and useful to my children as when they were younger only to find that they are capable of doing everything on their own. We did raise them to be reliable and independent so how can I do anything other than take the proverbial old back seat and watch them continue in their own strength and wisdom. Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he old he will not depart from it.” I’ve done my best to make that a reality.
There still remains a very strong closure, a large void in my life that I am trying to figure out what to do with. Do I return to the workforce at my age? Should I go back to college to pursue my own degree? Should I continue to stay home to take care of our aging parents? Can I do all of these simultaneously now that my children no longer need me? Are my skills marketable? Would anyone hire me at this age? What can I do that is productive and worthwhile with my time? The silence can be unbearable even with the radio or TV on. I need to find something to do in this semi-empty nest segment that will fill the void and prepare me for the true empty nest chapter of life that will soon to follow.
STEP TWO: MAKE A PLAN
I have always wanted to be an author since I was a very young girl in elementary school. I remember making small, color penciled booklets filled with my manuscript handwriting and pictures to illustrate the stories I wrote. I think my parents marveled at my short tales and the pictures I drew. It kept my time occupied, out of their hair and also out of much trouble as they did whatever grownups do. With that childhood memory coming to mind, I remember too how that desire got buried under greater responsibilities as I grew older. Once our children were born there was no time to do much of anything except teach and care for the five of them. Lots of dreams were pushed aside and totally forgotten. Now that I have plenty of time on my hands to lend to something in place of parental duties, I have decided to revisit that dusty old place where dead dreams lay.
To awaken the dream of becoming an author in the adult world was easy. The desire was there. To make it a feasible reality, I had to first do some research. I felt confident that it was within my reach after reading several success stories from women in my demographic group. After prayerfully asking for the Lord’s blessing, I mapped out a plan, and began my journey. First, I reached out to and reconnected with some old friends who have similar goals. They love to write and have authored blogs and books of their own. This is a perk that a midlife age group has trophied from decades of experience in career fields that have already been mastered. These friends are invaluable in their encouragement and support in finding resolutions for my many inquiries. In the final leg of mapping out my journey, I began searching the internet for affordable programs to make a domain happen.
Now, let’s go back to the opening technology comment at the beginning of this article. Technology isn’t something I easily assimilate. It is my nature to try to thoroughly understand a topic before taking it on. However, the magnitude of information available to a newbie trying to put up their first website is enough to quickly overload my finite brain. I had to pace myself and take it in small bite size pieces which enabled me to retain what I was learning. This took a little bit of time. I wanted to rush into it but chose again to pace myself to do it correctly. Haste makes waste is honestly a true statement. A frustrating part of this is, about the time I master any form of technology, the obsolete bell rings time is up, move over, a new game with new rules has begun. However, I am determined to remain teachable for the duration and work through many headaches and the stress needed to go forward. I consider that to be the birthing pains of bringing my dream to life. A common phrase I often told my children as they were learning something new and perhaps difficult to them was this, “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” Stay committed to bringing it to pass.
STEP THREE: GET UP AND DO IT!
I have decided to be a “doer” and not just a “thinker” in accomplishing my dream. It isn’t going to happen all on it’s own. Energy will be required to put that thought into action. The world belongs to doers. Some watch passively, never attempting to educate themselves further in anything new or challenging as they reach middle age. They remain stuck in what used to be a viable working situation that might have been fulfilling for a time. It is stressful to begin learning anew when you are middle-aged. There are a slew of adoptable excuses for why it shouldn’t be attempted. It is easier to sit idle and not begin. Reinvention takes some courage and a willingness to learn, fail, and try again. Isn’t this life in a nutshell? What is not attempted will never be achieved. If you fail, at least you can say you tried it before ruling out what did not work. That is a lesson learned too. Put away any excuses you might have of not doing what you have always dreamed of doing. This is your season to try. Don’t let it pass you by yet again. Do it!
So, here I am sitting at a laptop beginning to realize that the sky is the limit! I have begun the journey of realizing my dream. I am excited and afraid all at the same time. I don’t know how this will ever take off. Hopefully, with the grace of God, surrounded by much prayer and encouragement from my family and friends, my dream with take flight. I am embarking on a new trail today, hiking my dream to the end. Please join me as I begin my journey! Maybe you are in the same season or chasing the same dream as I am. Well then Sister, come along! I would love some company and someone to chat with about reconfiguring life’s changing seasons along the way. We’ll embark together! Let’s go!
