I can't tell you why, but for some reason lately I've been thinking a lot about myself as an older woman. I keep thinking about what my life will be like once the kids are out of the house, my youth has faded, and I qualify for social security and medicaid. The words that have been running through my head are "begin with the end in mind".
When I am older, I don't want to look back at my life and think that my best years are behind me. Because right now, I feel like they are ahead of me. I have so much to learn and more growing and seasoning to do, I am still young and can easily work out and become fit, I can play around in the yard with my sons if I want and go exploring in the woods. I can go back to school if I want, I can stay in on a Saturday night or I could go out dancing! I have yet to see my children grow up, and to be honest I am looking forward to those fun years the most!
The thing is, the things I look forward to the most in life seem to taper off by the time I reach retirement age. So I've been thinking of how to shift my way of thinking about that. Right now, if I begin with the end in mind, I have the power to create the kind of life I will have in the future. While I know the ultimately my life is in God's hands, there is still a great deal of my life that I have control of based on the decisions I make every day. And one thing is for sure- when I am older, I want to feel as if my best days are head of me.
How am I going to do that? Well right now I'm not exactly sure. I suppose if my tastes are similar then as they are now, my life will look something like this:
*Weekly date nights with Dave
*Many visits with children and grandchildren
*Have a garden
*Many trips a year to different places around the world- the Carolinas, California, Mexico, Europe... who knows!
*Constant learning- maybe I will take classes at a community college just to keep my brain challenged!
*Lots of reading
*Much service to others and the church
*Mentoring and inspiring younger women
*Exercise
I could go on, but I think this is a pretty good list to start. Now I have the opportunity to live my life in a way that will make this possible. No matter how old I get, my life will be a never ending adventure... Here's to the years to come!
Lindsay
