When Life Feels Like You Are One Crisis Away from Jenga
The first thing I know for sure is there is only one way you can fail and that’s if you believe you don’t deserve to win. The second thing I know for sure is that positive thoughts require energy and negative thoughts require no effort at all.
Moving One Block Can Cause the Whole Tower to Tumble
There is a myriad of reasons why a woman in mid-life and beyond might find herself in a state of emotional or financial crisis. It could be a messy divorce leaving bank accounts drained, worthless investments being found to be scams, or personal problems or health issues depleting life savings. It could be as simple as being laid off, with no one wanting to hire a 50-plus woman to their management team.
You may be struggling with feelings of irrelevancy, stress, hopelessness or lack of a sense of purpose. Are you in limbo, waiting patiently for that perfect moment to bloom?
If you’re 50 or older, you may feel redundant. Our youth-oriented society’s yardstick has measured us past our prime. Our allotted time to shine, be relevant and successful is over. We had our chance; if things didn’t work out, well, it’s too late now. Roll yourself out to the curb with a sign pinned to your chest that reads Past Due Date and wait for the refuse collector. What could we possibly have to offer this late in the game of life?
As It Turns Out, Quite a Lot!
It’s time for us to reimagine and redefine our purpose later in life. Your entire adult existence has been taking care of others: your children, spouse, a corporation’s board of directors. Everyone has had a piece of you to reach their dreams and goals while balancing on your shoulders.
Ideas and visions of who you are, what you want and where you want to go are fluid and constantly changing. Whether you had the good fortune to follow your vision or stored it away for later, something happened to bring life to a halt, and you are at a crossroads.
“I’m Too Old to Start Over”
If you’re not satisfied with your life to date, change it. What are you waiting for? You’re still standing, perhaps tilting a bit like a tree that’s experienced too many storms.
You are not alone. If you’ve lost your compass and feel you no longer have the strength and tenacity to chart your course, it’s time to reach out to a new tribe to help you on your journey.
Society may think we’ve fallen through the cracks and have no place to go but down – no money, no hope, no future – but I’ve got news for them: we have no place to go but up. We are looking forward to an exciting, albeit different, second half of life.
Just like a grand old house that’s seen better days, transform yourself into a brand-new design, a magnificently renovated, imposing mansion that no hurricane of challenges can blow down.
A Life That Is Enough for You
What are you looking for? Encouragement, income ideas, resources, friendships, the story of someone who has shared your circumstances? Has a new idea sprung to life in your imagination, or are you considering revisiting a dormant dream that’s ready to bloom?
A community of many voices with an abundance of courage and grassroots ideas is waiting to hear from you. What are your goals? Happiness, friendships, financial security, travel? Just what is it that YOU desire?
What Are You Prepared to Do to Achieve the Life You Say You Want?
Tell God, the Universe, Mother Nature or just yourself what you want. Say it out loud, write it down, post it on the wall, and believe you deserve it. If you have faith, the Universe will immediately start the process of rearranging things to make it happen. Be very specific: this is your Magnum Opus! Believe it, plan for it, keep moving forward with grit and purpose, and voila, it will appear.
Beware the Good and Bad News
The good news is that if you open your mind, stop dismissing new ideas and stop making excuses, you will get everything you want. The bad news is you don’t get to choose the timeline. But I can tell you this from my own experience: if you are willing to forge ahead and have unwavering faith in yourself, you will get everything you want.
We all know the first step is the hardest. But then it gets easier. Inspire yourself, and others will be inspired by your actions.
Send me an email at hello@wendyrichards.ca to receive the full Introduction: What I Know for Sure from my debut book A Life Postponed – so you too can discover joy and purpose in mid-life and beyond!
Let’s Have a Conversation:
What needs to change in your life so that it turns in a direction that you want? Are you prepared to make those changes?
Tags Reinventing Yourself
A neighbor passed today. The woman next door is pregnant. I’ve been thinking about my own life with the changes in theirs.
For starters, I’ve been way too dependent on mothering and often wonder if I should have relocated like I did to be closer to one of my children. Living in the northeast can be isolating. Very hard to make friends here, something that was never an issue before anywhere I have lived. I have moved a lot.
The truth is I think I am lonely. Loneliness is in part because we fail to fully access ourselves, this I know. I’ve been resetting boundaries with people and today’s changes in my family (I wrote this on another thread about arrogant children) have made me look at what I have allowed with them. One life completes while another will begin soon. My home is located between theirs. I find this as a huge wake-up call about my own life. The clock is ticking and I need to get to work on this.
Hi Georgia, I too moved a lot, first as an airforce brat, and then for work. It would be nice if my children lived near me but my life no longer revolves around them. They have their own friends as they should. I won’t be around forever. I want friendships with women who share my interests: golf, art, or just chatting about things that we want to do in our futures. Not only make a plan but act on it. Cheers!
I’m 63 yr old with a pretty good job but I’m tired of it. I plan to retire in 2 years but will still need an income due to some previous financial hardships. I decided to invest in some expensive training to start my own business with a lot of insecurity around spending the $ for a new career at this age. However, I’m enjoying the learning and feel reinvigorated. My motto this year is, ‘proceed with uncertainty’! This article sure helped! Thanks.
Mem, I’m so happy you liked the article. You sound similar to me. When my job ended, I still needed an income but I also wanted to pursue things I enjoyed. I went back to school part time and all my new adventures started from there. I talk about this and make lots of out of the box job recommendations in my book A Life Postponed. You can give it a read or not, but you sound like you are going in the right direction. Cheers!