The room is stacked with bits and pieces. Chairs, tables, chests. Some worn and tattered, but made of good solid wood. Other pieces are slick and modern, but cheap, made of plastic or aluminum. I know I can make something out of the jumble. With some effort there can be a sense of order and purpose, a flow and function to the placement of things. Some of it will have to go, some will need patching and polish. I can see the possibilities. Somewhere in the clutter there is a place that welcomes, intrigues, comforts and functions with meaning. It will take some finesse and some vision, a little ingenuity. I have nothing but time.
Could a dream be a more literal reflection of this very moment in my life? I sit here staring at my computer screen, contemplating, sorting through the many chapters of my history. I can't imagine what is next for me.
By the time I was thirty, thanks to life as an Army brat and eventually a military spouse, I had lived on three continents, in eight of the US states. By forty-five I had traveled to 21 foreign countries and crossed all but ten state lines. I started my first job (wrapping gifts at the local department store) at age fifteen, and spent the next forty-seven years turning what talents I could cultivate into a means of survival in my ever changing world.
As a single mom for many more years than I was a young wife, and eventually as a caregiver to aging parents, responsibility was my motivation, determination my fuel, a passion for challenge the igniting spark. Today, the spark seems to fizzle. The determination is half hearted. The responsibilities a dead weight on my shoulders.
Still, the journey must go on. There is no alternative. In this blog I will map my future, and begin to follow my map, one step at a time. You can follow too and perhaps offer guidance, through my regular updates, as I venture forth into the next chapter, into the unknown. Its all new again at age sixty-two.
FIRST DRAFT MAP The First 10 Steps Toward the Rest of My Life:
- Get finances under control
- Reach out. You can't do this alone
- Learn something new (repeat as often as possible)
- Make time for regular physical activity
- Pay it forward
- Evaluate myself, lead with my strengths
- Find my niche
- Grow and prosper
- Laugh and love
- Rediscover contentment
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