I turned 60 at the beginning of this month, which seems impossible. But after doing the math 397 times and throwing myself three killer celebrations (with at least three more pending), I’ve not only reconciled myself to the inevitable, I’m happy about it.
Over the last few decades, I’ve steadily trudged toward self-acceptance before suddenly leaping into self-appreciation. I’ve moved from shoulding on myself, as my friend Cyndee Overland would say, to making proactive choices. So I’m choosing to work out instead of struggling to make that a priority. I’m choosing to take my writing coach services to the next level (stay tuned). And I’m choosing to return to a book I back-burnered a year ago and to begin playing with a kids’ book series I’ve been thinking about for 25 years.
The difference?
In each case, I’m focusing on my why. By understanding why something is important, I can clearly evaluate my priorities. My calendar has begun to reflect those new choices. Ditto for my body and my mind. And somehow all that noise that got in the way every time I tried to initiate a change has all but disappeared.
The Chinese people believe that when you reach the age of 60, you’ve completed a full cycle of life and get to start over. Maybe that’s why I feel so much lighter, so much freer. In retrospect, however, I realize that I could have hit this place a long time ago simply by exploring my why.
So let me ask you two questions.
Why are you writing? Why write at all?
I’m betting that once you find your why, you”ll also find the motivation and the time to really focus on your book or your blog or whatever else you’re crafting instead of allowing it to be an afterthought.
Here’s to that!
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