CHANGE - HATE IT OR LOVE IT

I’ll start with the second experience as it is probably the oddest. I was sitting in Gatwick at Costa Coffee minding my own business. I was doing some work related to our book “Your Life Your Way – The Essential Guide for Women” and so I had put a copy on the bar table where I was sitting. Suddenly I was aware of someone standing near the table quoting the title of the book in a sharp, incredulous voice and adding – “Ugh, you’ll be lucky!” I looked up to see someone, possibly a baby boomer like me, looking older than she actually was, sounding fraught, not at all happy with life. I smiled and said I was the author to which she riposted: “Yes, I thought you were!” Wow! I didn’t realise I was exuding ‘authordom’ from my every pore. I added “I do create my life, my way and it works for me”, whereupon she turned away and proceeded to talk with her companion in a loud voice that had a hollow ring to it. Eventually she moved away.

My read of this particular lady is that she is frustrated with her life for whatever reason. I would add that she wants something to change in her life but has grown far too cynical over the years and habitually sits in the victim’s seat of life, seeing herself as small and unable to do anything about what life is throwing at her. Let’s put her in the ‘hate change’ category. She prefers to stay with her dissatisfaction, her anger, her disappointment and do nothing about it other than express her bitterness. It does have me wonder what physical symptoms she may be experiencing with all that pent up misery inside of her.

 The first experience was totally different and took place on the flight over to the UK with a woman who was returning from a long weekend in her home in France. It transpired that she is a widow and owned it with her recently deceased husband. She was nearing 60, though did not look it, and was hungry for more out of life. She was in the ‘when . . . and then . .. . ‘ frame of mind, particularly in regard to her retirement. Our chat gave rise to my mentioning the book which she was eager to see. She’d only read just a few pages as we were coming in to land and her last words to me as we disembarked were – “Change? Of course I can . . . it’s my life isn’t it? I can damn-well choose!”

 She was so enthusiastic to buy the book, start work on the exercises and investigate what might be possible for her. This is a lady who is ripe for making a change, a leap in her life. All she needs is the gentlest of pushes to set her on her new journey.

 So here we have two women probably both baby boomers taking completely different views about how they can have the rest of their life. I do hope that the first woman has allowed herself to take a peek at what might just be possible for her. I hope the latter has taken her new-found strength and started the changes she wants to see in her life.

 Where are you sitting with your life - feeling like a victim or very firmly in the driver’s seat? We are all at liberty to choose at every moment. It truly never is too late.