Stepping Up To Life
Have you ever woken up one morning and suddenly realised that your life as you thought it would happen has not quite worked out as planned? It has recently occurred to me that you can sum up my whole life in one sentence… Well that didn’t work out as planned!
The universe was not paying attention when I asked for the winning lotto ticket or more realistically I was not paying attention as I got older every year and never really grasped the concept of planning and saving.
One day you just wake upold. Suddenly you don’t have all the time in the world to achieve your goals. In my twenties and thirties, I was out to find the perfect man, a committed relationship. I also thought that being fabulously successful at business would be my claim to fame.
Now I don’t seem to have the energy. Not that I am decrepit or old; just a 40 something that realises that 50 is looming. I still like men, well some of them, and now again I allow one into my life and my bed. But now days I really don’t see myself as one half of a couple. Although I do know that there are some benefits of being a twosome. Sadly, unlike many of my partnered friends, I am financially, shall we say ‘challenged’, and now I find my career prospects are shaky to say the least.
I wasn’t always so jaded, life was going along nicely for a while. I owned my own business, not particularly profitable, but it gave me a lifestyle. I earned enough to travel regularly but not quite enough to save anything for a comfortable retirement, I wasn’t too worried as I was sure I would eventually develop that perfect gold mine of a business. Then life happened… the global financial crises struck and my line of work retrenched badly and never really recovered.
As well, I suddenly found myself with a ‘health’ issue. A little lump of fat in my neck that during the minor surgery to remove it, the surgeon severed a main nerve leaving me in severe pain and with limited use of my left arm. The good news was that around this time, someone made me a very fair offer for my business and I decided it was time for a career change. It has taken me twelve months to almost recover from the surgery and it is now time to find another business opportunity.
The dilemma is what? What business can a middle-aged, but still fabulous, woman with very limited funds start? It will have to be online. It will have to be a product that is leading edge and since I am a woman, I think I am great at marketing to other women. I think I need to make a list… and then get those heels on and get on with it!
Thanks for sharing your story - some of it I knew and some of it is new.
Keep writing the story here - find a tag line and post about it as often as you can. My posts on two topics now are at number 112 and number 58. They are not going to make a living but they will help.
I must say my biggest challenge is FOCUS. My lesson: Whatever it is you find that appeals to a tribe make it a very focused effort. Focus on a small tribe of people, write for them and build friendships with them - they will reward you when they trust you.
Good luck and big hugz my friend