Many of us have had times that we would love to have changed our life in one way or another but most of us over 50s got onto life’s roller coaster many years ago and have kept going. That is
until something happens that we are forced to stop and re-evaluate our life and make a change. Why do we wait until we are often facing a crisis to make change?
Some people set a course and follow their dreams but most of us accept what comes along. Who hasn’t got caught up in the trap of when you get the right job, find the right partner, right house, car…you get the picture, then you’ll be satisfied. The truth is you don’t find satisfaction in possessions. You find satisfaction within. You’ll never find internal happiness from external possessions.
What will bring you that internal happiness? Is there still the desire and time to find and experience the life you want?
Some of us may have already learned that the more possessions we have the more problems we have, the more expenses we have. Therefore the harder we have to work to maintain it all.
If you are fortunate enough to make this realization when you are young as one young man that I just finished reading about, then you are very fortunate. Some don’t find what is really valuable to them until they are much older, sometimes when it’s almost too late and some never find it.
This particular young man at 17 years of age he dropped out of school. He wasn’t just content to be a layabout he actually set up his own business. He became very successful in a relatively short time and made a lot of money. He spent the first few years doing what he loved, hanging out with friends, having fun and traveling.
Then he got caught up in the possessions trap like so many do. He bought the big house, fancy car, motor cycle and lots of other possessions. It didn’t take him too long to discover that these things took his time, money and focus and the things that he loved to do most had ceased. What had made him happy was replaced with things that made him worried, miserable and consumed his time.
Who knows what this young man will do in the future but for now he has made the decision to reclaim his life. He has sold his big house, fancy car, motor cycle and anything else that won’t fit into a backpack. He’s keeping enough clothes to last a week and he and his girlfriend are off to travel the world. Yes, he still has money but what do most people want money for? Buying possessions!
When you think about it things are so backward. You work for 40 years or more hoping by the time you retire you may get a taste of this type of freedom and lifestyle. The problem is for too many by the time
their retirement comes around they no longer have the health to enjoy it.
Another thing many do is work hard all year in the hope of getting a week or two vacation to sample the lifestyle that other people live full time. They may or may not have the house and trimmings but they have a life they love.
When you choose to have a family of course you want to have a stable home environment to bring them up in. But do we hold onto those things way longer than we really need to?
What are you willing to sacrifice to live the way you want? And is it really that much of a sacrifice?
As much as we dream of just going after what we truly want it does takes guts to go for it, but in the long run will you find the internal happiness you’ve longed for?
Author Bio: Shirley Price lives in Vancouver BC. She is a mother and grandmother and the publisher of www.lifebydesignover50.com a website for the over 50s. Shirley is also trained as Life coach, in NLP, and other life changing skills.