The Up Side

I’m glad the holidays are over. I’m ready for life to come off “hold” and to stop having an excuse to sleep past 6 a.m.  My “to do” list for 2013 is already long, and I’m eager to get started. I’m anxious for people to start returning e-mails and phone calls. I’m ready to plunge into the next phase of my life.

Remember when I said there was an up side to aging? Well, here it is: It’s being able to trudge through an emotional swamp and emerge on the other side, renewed; assembling the pieces of a past and using the picture to inform a future; deciding to take new a risk without caring what anyone thinks; allowing for the possibility of failure and then, of starting over again.

It’s realizing that all we have is time.

Time is going to pass us by (and we're going to keep getting older), no matter what we do.

If I don’t chase my dream, if I give up on myself or stay stuck or live in the past, aging will have been a fruitless exercise. A waste.

So, this is my charge for 2013: To view midlife as a goldmine; to benefit from what I know and to use the time ahead to learn; to allow myself tentative steps or soaring leaps, as long as I keep moving.

About the memoir: I launched this morning, but I’ve decided to keep it separate from this blog, which keeps me connected to you--albeit virtually--and gives me the immediate sense of accomplishment I need to stay out of my own way.

Happy New Year.