Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are always evolving. Our life journey is about continuous adaptation. As we enter into a new season, it’s a good time to think about the changes we will encounter. Some events we will be happy to embrace, others will cause concern and rejection. Our best resolution for the upcoming months is to be adaptable! Setting goals is important; it has become a cultural hobby to make January the month of good intentions. But what about March, April and on? Perhaps as we age, we become masters of dealing with challenges as they arrive…masters of creative adaptation. For those of you who follow my column, you know that my mantra is “Plan for a future, no matter your age.” That may seem in contrast to this idea of rolling with the punches, but it is the intersection of living in the present and believing in our potential.
We spend so much of our time avoiding negative circumstances and difficult situations. So, of course, our attention is on correcting our path at the first of the year to smooth the pathway to what we deem a successful and fulfilling year. But we also must remember that every failure and roadblock is the path of evolution to make us better, stronger and more adaptable. A line from a favorite movie, The Last Word, depicts the story of a successful businesswoman, Harriet Lauler played by Shirley MacLaine, who engages a young, local newspaper reporter to write her obituary before she dies. In one of their many lively dialogues, she gives a piece of advice to the aspiring journalist: “You don’t make mistakes. Mistakes make you.” That is the perspective and wisdom of an older person! As my husband says about this time of life, it's like pulling toilet paper off the roll - years seem to go faster and faster. So, I leave you with a thought for the beginning of Spring from the same movie. Don’t aspire to nice days… have days that matter, days that are true and days that mean something. Be kind to yourself, be generous to others, and be adaptable. Join the conversation on Facebook at Just Now Old Enough.