Reimagining My Life. That is what this blog is all about -- how I went from loss of loved ones to starting over and how I did it and where I am now. I believed more than anything that I could start over, I just did not know how or where to do it. My epiphany came in the dead of night while I was sleeping -- I woke with a start, sat straight up and told myself I was going to move to Florida, then I went back to sleep. Only thing was was when morning came, I started to put the epiphany into action. I started cleaning out the house, purging and reorganizing. I called a realtor to come to my house to see what I needed to do to ready the house for sale, and I started looking at property online in Florida.
And I made a list of what I wanted to do with my life -- work on crafts, write, and travel. Small list.
Timewise, it took me about four years to have the epiphany. Prior to that time, I wandered the house, trying to figure out my next step. As I researched this article, I found that I was actually within the timeframe it takes someone to change his life. According to a Forbes.com article, "Jane Pauley's 5 Essential Reinvention Tips" by Nancy Collamer dated January 16, 2014, Heraminia Ibarra, author of Working Identity said that it takes a person approximately three years to make a midlife transition. It went on to say that Jane Pauley took four years to make the reimagined trip.
And that is what I am in -- midlife. Hey, I'm a boomer, and remember, us boomers are reimagining or restructuring what retirement looks like. I really have a sneaky feeling we are going to do this until the day we die, and then we will probably reimagine or restructure how and why we die. Since my health is very good, the only thing I can tell is different from being 30 or 40 is it may take me a bit longer to do something. Sometimes, not all the time. My mind, my goals, my thinking skills, my everything is the same as when I was chronologically younger. And I guess if I really had to go faster, I would. It's just I don't have to be on the roller coaster any longer. I can finally stop and smell the roses before I proceed. That is a gift.
So. What is reimagining your life. It's all about living your dreams, your passions. It's taking stock of your relationships and your priorities. The last is so, so important to me. My priorities. I figure I have a good 20 years left to do all I want to achieve in this life. And I looked back at my life and found that it does not really take that long to amass the small fortune once you are focused. (And, no I do not have even a small fortune -- it was not one of my priorities -- ever! but I had the money to retire.) I timed myself on what I could do in a minute, in five minutes, in a half hour, when I was focused and persistent, and found that I could accomplish anything and have time left over. So, 20 years is a lot of years to do everything I want to do.
I have no desire to go back to school for credit (I have 12 years of college work) but I would take a course in astronomy for fun, but not now, it's not that important to me. But for some, it may have been a goal -- to get a bachelor's degree. I say, if that is what your dream was, go for it. You can. Believe it. You can.
The crafts were important to me, but they are really losing their appeal after doing the ceramics for two years. The glass art work, no, because it is new. But I can see changes down the road for crafts.
So, for me it is the writing, which is becoming a business and taking more and more of my time. I love it, I dream about my stories, I write my stories in my head before they go on paper. I research the details of my stories. But, the business is not about the writing, that is the creative part; writing is a business with publicity and book signings and web pages and twitter and snapchat and blogs and indie publishing and speaking engagements, etc., etc., etc. Then, a nephew suggested a business for my other blog on Wordpress (Miswordsdotcom.wordpress.com) about idioms. To actually start a business doing skype classes for those who live in other countries and want to learn about our language. Then, there is becoming a personal historian for people. And I want to put together a newsletter for another nephew and I have volunteered to write a newsletter for the association I belong to. It's all writing; it's all about the words. And that is being defined as the days go by. But right now I am learning how to publish on line (my first book should be available within 8 weeks!!!!)
My other goal is travel. From this blog, you can see where I have gone in the past two years. There have been some incredible trips, and I have more in store. But, there are also the day trips and the one-night stopovers in and around Florida. There is so, so much to see and do here. And we always have perfect or near perfect weather, which is a big plus.
You will be going on my journey -- my 14th Chapter of my life -- with me. The crafts as I finish them, the writing updates, and the travels, lots and lots of pictures of travel.
Those are real for me right now in this 14th chapter. I took a chance, a risk by selling most everything and venturing to a land where I did not have a home or people to know. I know that I will take more chances, more risks because I am ready.
Are you? If you are stuck in a rut, reimagine what you want your life to be, then put one foot in front of another and do it. Remember, it takes a good 3 or 4 years to make that decision.
Until Wednesday...have a great day.,,
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