USNEWSLINK/December 20, 2001 Tomorrow is my birthday. I am
three years short of having lived six decades. Being satisfied with my life affords me a certain tranquility. It allows me time to think creatively and reflect upon what I want to do with the rest of my life. The women in my family all lived into their mid-eighties thus I expect to live about 22-30 more years. That's a long time to live when you're old. I was born into a family who put appearances before common sense. And for many years I placed undue emphasis upon material wealth. At certain intervals in my life I have enjoyed wealth. And, in retrospect my quest for wealth wasted many precious years that could have been spent in service to my fellow man and to those who meant the most to me. As my life progressed through predictable stages of marriage and careers I never believed I would lose my natural optimism, natural abundance of energy, and innate enthusiasm. And for many years I did not. But in recent years, I have numbed out to the joys and pleasures of life, preferring to isolate myself from society. Oh, I interact with society, but do so only when necessary. I prefer my own company. I feel safer when I'm beyond the reach of everyday life and it's turmoils. Lately I have begun to feel the tug of a new challenge to decide what I am going to do with the rest of my life? How will I spend my days? What will I do with my time? Fortunately I have many options and opportunities to earn my living. But how to stretch my intellectual potential and find joy in the work is at the heart of my quest. Society reacts indifferently to older woman. Society does not embrace older women. That disappoints me. But I can work around that obstacle. The real challenge is to decide what I want to do. I have decided to turn the search for my next challenge into a joyous game. I am learning about various careers and how they would fit into my lifestyle and age specific requirements. I'm keeping a running list of options. I'll keep you posted as to my progress. And in the meantime, Happy Birthday To Me! Many happy returns of the day Judi Haney. ;) READ OTHER "WINDOW TO A LIFE" STORIES BY JUDITH HANEY |
