Least Likely Surprise

05.28.2010

Now that I no longer have my Friday morning class, I can return to my regular Friday meetings and hopefully start getting back on track with my weight.

I’ve been attending the same Friday morning meeting since 2003 so I knew it would be challenging to attend a new meeting and I can’t explain how much I had grown dependent on that Friday routine. Even though I chose to go to another meeting with the same leader, the dynamic of the group was different which affected everything for me. I suppose I went in with a fairly negative attitude ahead of time because I knew it was just temporary so every set back I had made it easier to blame on this new meeting.

Well, when I left last August, the Friday meeting was filled with people of different ages but most people hovered somewhere in their 30s and 40s. Now, 9 months later, I found myself surrounded with women who were in their 60s and above. I couldn’t help but look at these women and be amazed.

See, aren’t you supposed to have it all figured out by then? Aren’t you supposed to know what you want out of life and why? Don’t you know why you are the way that you are by that point in your life?

I’ve heard people with children say, “I wish I had it all figured out.” This constantly surprises me because I’ve always thought, “Wow, I don’t have kids because I don’t have it figured out and I’m waiting for that to happen so that I’ll be ready.”

But seeing these women humble enough to accept that they need help, unwilling to give up on their lives and on who they are and, on the contrary, willing to invest in themselves and find out who they are now gave me so much inspiration.

It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, how old you are, whether you have kids or not, or how you choose to live your life. The point is to choose: to live your life. The point is to choose: to be the best that you can be. The point is to choose whatever is in your heart because if we’re lucky, we’re all going to reach the age of 60 or 70 and, along the way, keep trying to figure it all out. Each stage brings a new set of challenges and once one issue is solved another challenge is eager to find its way to your doorstep. No one has all the answers and most of us work with only the knowledge we have at that moment in time.

And the point of that: is to never stop learning.