Chasing Your Dreams After Age 50
Remember
when you were a kid, and you dreamed of being a fighter pilot? Or a fashion
model? Or a sailor on the high seas? Or maybe just a housewife with three
wonderful kids, a loving husband and a house with a white picket fence?
Now that you're older, what happened to those dreams? If you're like a lot of people, your dreams got put away somewhere around the time you graduated from high school or college and you had to start making a living. Suddenly there were mortgages to pay, kids to raise, credit card bills and college educations to save for. Who had time for childhood dreams with all that going on?
Eventually you passed into middle age. The kids grew up, you got promoted or moved to a new company, and a whole new set of issues and concerns crept into your life. And your childhood dreams faded away to the point where could barely remember them.
The years went by, and at some point your "dreams" were reduced to simply wishing for enough money for a decent retirement, and the good health to spend a few of your "Golden Years" out on the golf course or playing with their grandkids.
Reawakening Your Dreams
But some people aren't looking at life after 50 as a time to kick back and spend
the rest of their lives in front of a widescreen TV. Some baby boomers are
pulling their dreams out of the closet, dusting them off, and taking a fresh
look at the things they always wanted to do.
If life is indeed a journey, and not a destination, then why not take the years you have left and spend them reaching for the stars? Why not reinvent yourself, explore your passions, and re-discover that sense of wonder and possibility that you felt as a child?
If you always dreamed of being an entrepreneur and owning your own business, this is the time to do it! If your childhood dream was to climb Mount McKinley or climb behind the wheel of a drag racer, those things are possible too. If your dream was to have children, and you never quite got around to it, even that is possible through a thing called adoption.
And the variety of dreams that people have are almost endless. If business or
adventure aren't your things, why not volunteer to help needy children in your
community? Or help build a trail in a wilderness area in your state? Or
take an elderly neighbor down to the ice cream shop for a strawberry sundae?
Do It Now Before It's Too Late
It's been said that people on their deathbeds never
wish that they'd spent more hours at the office, or in a meeting, or staring at
a computer screen. They usually do regret not spending more time with their
families, or re-connecting with people they cared about who had drifted out of
their lives.
And you don't have to try and reinvent your entire life in a single weekend. This isn't about dropping who you are and becoming someone else, it's about taking who you are and making yourself who you always wanted to be. It's about taking risks, being spontaneous, facing your fears and re-discovering the joy of living.
Just remember that all things are possible if you're willing to get out and make the effort. Who knows, maybe one of these days you'll find yourself sailing around the world just as you imagined all those years ago.
Reinventing Yourself After Age 50
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