This is my husband. He’s leaving for his first day on a new job. He’s 53 years old. Think you can’t start over? Think you can’t reinvent yourself? Think again…
My husband has had many jobs in his lifetime, and more than one career. He’s been a cook, a carpenter, and a soldier. He’s delivered pizzas, made sandwiches, done physical therapy, and worked in factories. He’s built bridges, and houses, and did asbestos abatement in paper mills. He has degrees in culinary arts, and physical therapy. He’s worked outside when it’s 20 below zero, and crawled in boilers where the temperature was 120, He was unstoppable until a diagnosis of bipolar brought us both to our knees and a halt to a consistent paycheck. For a time, it seemed there was no way around this mountain. But, there was a way, and he found it. How? He adapted and he evolved.
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw
Darwin’s theory of evolution in part presumes that complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors, and through a process called natural selection, a species adapts to its environment, while the less beneficial attributes are not passed on. At least that’s that’s how my scientific-shy little mind breaks it down (yeah, you can school me if I’m wrong!). If this is true in the large evolutionary scheme of things, wouldn’t it be the same in our day-to-day lives? I know it is for my husband, and I know it can be true for you, if you want.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin
Don’t just accept the fact that you are what you are. You can change, you can grow. It is not too late to learn. Never be complacent in where you are in life. That is not to say that you shouldn’t enjoy each stage of your life, but that’s all it is; a stage. It will change. Just as you once thought you’d never grow up, you did. And maybe as a young mom, you feel that children will always be hanging off of you, but they won’t. Maybe you feel that you’re stuck in this dead-end job forever. But, you’re not. Get ready. Things will change, and you must change too. Be prepared to evolve and adapt, or you will begin the slow process of death.
”When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” Benjamin Franklin
If where you are now, is not the dream you had for yourself when you were 7, don’t despair, don’t give up. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t change your life. Don’t get stuck in a monotonous rut. Remember the passion you had as a kid? Ok, so maybe you won’t be a professional athlete, an actress, or a veterinarian as you thought when you were little. But, you did fantasize about being more than what you were at the time, and that’s where it begins. Rekindle that excitement, then put that energy in to change, no matter how small.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates
My husband has always been unable to sit still (what a blessing and curse ADHD can be!). He is always moving and loves to learn. He loves to help people, and he loves to talk. He hates the 9-5 life, and being inside all the time. Combine all these attributes with a carpentry background of 35 years, and it made perfect sense for him to become a real estate agent. He has succeeded by turning all the turmoil and strife of his childhood and the challenges of young adulthood into a passion and energy that allows him to continually evolve into the best person he can be. He has used all of the trials in his life as building blocks, not roadblocks. Sure, it’s not easy, and it has taken a long time. He’s a card-carrying member of AARP and needs daily medication to keep going, but if age, mental illness, and a very rocky start to life haven’t stopped him, why should it stop you? You’ve got all the tools you need to reinvent yourself if you want to; you just have to want to.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” C.S. Lewis
