Pearls of Wisdom

So my friend’s daughter started a blog.  She is a twenty-something and it’s an excellent blog, however the  tone seems to be – where will my future take me?  Am I where I am supposed to be?  Why aren’t more things happening to me?  I remember having those thoughts and feelings at that age, especially about the future.

I have found, at least for me, that at this stage of my life, I am not wondering about what the future will bring as much as figuring out what to bring to my life right now.  I realize the value of time, and although I’m not one foot away from the grave, my options, along with everyone else’s, become slimmer with age.  

Along with this realization comes this uncanny comfortability with doling out the advice.  Mind you I’m not a regular  “Dear Abby”, but when being asked to help a friend, a daughter, a co-worker or even a spouse in a “crisis” mode,  dispensing advice rolls off the tongue a little sweeter as you age because you have the experience to back it up.   

Take children, for example.  Although my three daughters are accomplished women both professionally and personally, they have moments, as do us all, when realizing this can be another story.  When being asked for advice with a particular situation they might find themselves in,  I put myself in their shoes, and I remember being their age, and what that felt like.  Along with this comes the ability to step out of that situation, and I know this sounds trite, but to be able to say “It’s all going to be OK”.  With age comes the realization of the value of standing up for yourself, taking care of yourself, cutting the crap and the emotion and the drama and taking an objective look at the situation and owning up to your own life.  It’s the “hovering” technique – hover above yourself and watch yourself as if in a movie.  Then ask yourself – what would I do in that situation? I know, easy for me to say, but it’s true!

I do have a caveat to these little gems that I have been throwing out there.  Although I feel confident giving advice because I truly feel right about the advice I give, me taking that advice and applying it towards my life is another story – but that is just a little something else I am working on 🙂