That's one of the great things about getting older, you get a much better sense of what really matters. As the hair grays, and the stomach grows, and the skin wrinkles, the mind begins to shift it's focus. A lot of what should have been obvious becomes so. For example, I am almost always late. I make lists, I wear a watch, I calendar every appointment, but still manage to show up on average 10-15 minutes late. I recently discovered that if I focus on what time I have to leave to get to the appointment, rather than the actual time of the appointment, I am less likely to give in to magical thinking when it comes to my prep and travel time. Sound overly simple, obvious even? It is. Unless you are someone who is chronically late and always looking for some sort of miracle answer to the problem. I'm gonna try this new strategy and let you know what happens.
I don't have all the answers by a long shot, but with each passing year I'm less inclined to worry about it. This might be one of the reasons that, with few exceptions, each year seems better than the last. Less stressing about stupid stuff. So my forties are fixing to be a pretty amazing time. Not that my life is without trials. Believe me, I have had my share of heartache, but on the whole things are good. I am also happily continuing to work on my writing. I will never get rich from it, but it really does make me happier. And, far from being a solitary pursuit, I have met a lot of great people as a result of my writing. This year I'm going to rev things up and work on a longer piece. (I don't want to jinx it by using the "n" word.) Wish me luck!
