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"Sometimes when you lose your way in the fog,
you end up in a beautiful place!
Don’t be afraid of getting lost!"
— Mehmet Murat Ildan
I am not just growing older but I like to think I am growing wiser.
How do I know this?
I get calmer when facing challenging situations. I can set boundaries without ‘slamming the door emotionally.’ I have the confidence to use my voice to stand up, speak up, and show up when the going gets tough or a guide is needed.
I have always been a risk-taker and willing to lead. But it has taken me years to find my true voice, to know without a doubt what I stand for, and to use my courage to speak truth to power.
I do this professionally. I do this for my family, friends, and colleagues; and in the most recent years have learned to do this for myself.
Most of life’s lessons seem deceptively simple, yet, are hard to practice consistently.
I am feeling grounded in the simplicity of finding the right path and walking confidently toward the future — even if it is cloaked in fog. Life is not becoming less challenging or less complex but is increasingly more fractious and more fatiguing.
I draw my confidence from all the many formative experiences that have contributed to my competence, my character, and my faith that I can find a way through.
I am a woman in her mid-life (or, too be completely honest, turning the age set for retirement) who has found that I am who I am today because of the significant experiences that helped to shape me. I am not mentally, physically, spiritually, or socially ready to join the ranks of the retired. I still feel a burning need to contribute and love what I do. My age should not be writ large, but rather my experience should be the banner which I raise up for others to recognize and follow.
I love to leverage my strengths and help others to find theirs. I am not, however, afraid to explore my flat sides — because more growth opportunities are often found in those places.
In recent years, the experiences of making space for a puppy who became a working dog and also my partner — the two of us rescuing an abandoned, abused dog from an uncertain future — and then finding the courage to rescue my mother from a placement that was not aligned with her quality of life-plan, grew and stretched me in ways that I could never imagine.
I am a better person for each of those commitments. Like walking through fire, each experience had the effect that a kiln has upon porcelain — creating the defining, shiny surface that defines it to the outside world.
If I reflect upon each decade of my life, I can find the formative experiences that prepared me for what was to come and recognize that they, in fact, shaped my choices.
• Who are you now and what life experiences have shaped you?
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