IF ONLY
Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019
Writing and publishing are, if I could turn back the clock – probably what I would have and should have been doing from an early age.
If only I’d had the idea, the drive, or the push in that direction …
Education, if I could turn back that clock – probably would have continued, I would have done well, I think in law school, or somewhere in the humanities or human behavior studies and should have been moving in that direction from an early age.
If only I’d had the idea, the drive, or the push in that direction.
Love and joy and travel were not on my list of high expectations – but they should have been, could have been from an early age. If I’d only had the idea, the drive, or the push in that direction.
When we think of all things we could have done, should have done and might have been exceptionally well suited for, it comes back to this ‘what if’ question, as if it was someone’s job to lead me down those paths, or kick me down those paths. Teachers had a role, but they can’t really do much more than point – make sure we see the options, but they can’t choose for us. Parents had that role, too, but whether they do it by showing us where we should point, or discouraging us from going where we would be unwise to lead because, in the end, it is our choice. Our self-determination, our push, point, drive, and strive that needs to be engaged. And how does that happen? Exactly – it’s more complicated than that.
But, it need not be.
Choices, or directional changes, are not limited to the young or to those who guide the young – opportunities available to everyone every day. To stay with a career or business, or to change one. To stay with a relationship, or to remain without one – or to change partner(s). To stay with a line of work, or add one, to stay with a product line or add one.
Be a one-trick pony, or to add one.
If only I could stop at one …
I could stop there. Those are complete thoughts.
But we don’t have to stop there, do we?
Someone asked me yesterday if I was doing retirement things. I laughed because I’m doing anti-retirement things. I’m working. Writing, Publishing. Growing, I hope, in scope and depth of what I do. It isn’t just a matter of writing it down or taping a piece of paper to a wall – there has to be a reason, a season, and some task or goal worthy of effort and time. Self-serving goals were fine in days gone by, but later in life, they seem to be less critical motivation. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love to do things well, do things better than I’ve done before, and I love the feeling of doing well. The more important element is ‘doing why?’ Or ‘why am I doing this?’
Not every day brings an answer. Fair enough, but no day should start or end without questions being posed, thought about, and kept in focus.
What am I doing this?
If only I knew …
