Not too late at sixty

Now I am sixty. I wrote this when I was fifty eight.

 

https://hazeldurbridge.com/evaluating-myself-at-sixty/

 

I had a little google on the ‘5 lessons to learn in life too late’. There were loads of lists, but this one spoke to me the most, now, 2 years on from when I last thought about it.

https://success4.com/blog/the-5-lessons-in-life-people-learn-too-late/

Evan Carmichael, through several motivational videos takes us through 5 lessons that we should make use of now rather than waiting till later in life and regretting missing out.

  1. Don’t Sleepwalk through life. Make sure you keep fighting for your dreams.
  2. Live life without fear. Don’t listen to that negative voice in your head.
  3. Stop Complaining. Be grateful for you have and use that to attack your day.
  4. Know your Destination. If you have a goal it becomes clear how to get it.
  5. Enjoy life. Make sure that whatever you do you enjoy the ride.

Also https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-lessons-people-most-often-learn-too-late-in-life/    has a younger take and from which I took the 2% mindset.

 

I am beginning to feel the fear and seeing among my contemporaries how that already makes their life smaller. That was why it was so important to go to Lisbon.

https://hazeldurbridge.com/lisbon-at-60/

Know your destination. I take a lot of flack for my planning, but it gets me to places I want to be. My detractors dismiss it as ‘boring’ and not being ‘spontaneous’.

 

The bit about life being a journey rather than a destination. While planning gets you there, it’s best not to obsess about the end, but make sure you enjoy progress towards the end where possible.

 

I have possibilities in my sights now rather than plans because not all the outcomes are in my control. I signed up to a financial advisor since 2017 and while I know I may not be rich, I know I am going to be ok. I have stopped accumulating things, but conversely pay more for clothes because I am wearing them and want to feel good.

A stable, committed relationship is still a priority though I think many friends and family think I should be beyond that by now.

Doing things that have meaning to me and I feel make a contribution are equally important. I want to travel still, but in a less hedonistic way.

I still have a dream, but I can’t mention it here yet, for all sorts of reasons, not least that the last two paragraphs may yet be incompatible.

 

I am less absorbed by my children. I realise I have very little capacity to influence them anymore. I have stopped writing to them so much because I am not sure they read it. I am reducing contact at a distance to whatsapp length. It seems to get a better reaction.

That’s it really. I still love my house and my friends. I am largely content at sixty.