Monday Motivation #3: Its not too late

For what it’s worth… It’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want.
You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or worst of it. I hope you make the best of it.
I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you are proud of. And if you’re not,
I hope you have the courage to start all over again.
– F. Scott Fitzgerald

Scott Fitzgerald spoke to my soul with the words above. For some reason, a lot of things are tied to age. Too often, we are dogged by societal pressures, where certain things are expected from us at certain ages. But today, I want us to focus on the other side of the coin. The part which says that if we not do certain things at certain ages, then that ship has sailed away, never to return to the shore.

You are not too young to publish a book at the age of eighteen. Sure, you might flinch a bit when reading the book years down the line. But guess what, many first books are like that, and it has nothing to do with age.

You are not too old to go back to university and get that degree. I have a living breathing testament to that fact. My mum went to school to obtain her English degree after giving birth to five children, and I couldn’t have been prouder of her accomplishment. I have been blessed to witness women in their thirties, with teenage children, attending medical school and getting their medical degree and license.

I have been fortunate to see mothers and daughters attend universities at the same time all in the strife to gain an education, the mothers, defeating the adage that they are too old to go back to school. I have seen men make life changing, drastic career decisions, moving from one line of work to another, despite being told “too old” to do it, and they succeeded. But these, are just the minority.

I have met women shamed for not being married by the age of thirty, and shamed for refusing to give up on finding love and getting remarried again.

So many of us think we are either too old or too young to do things, and I am not saying that might not be true. But at the end of the day, there is no rule to this thing, if it matters, give it a shot.

I mean, I rode on my first super slide at the age of fifteen. I was heavy and overweight, but I still got in line with a kid and slid on that slide like I was three years old. Okay, maybe, that wasn’t the smartest decision, but heck, if the park owners allowed me, then why would I be the one holding myself back.

The point is, people will knot ropes around your hands if you let them, keeping you from doing the things which would change you for the better. But don’t be the one with rope, doing the knotting on yourself.

I pray this is the year you make positive life changing decisions, this is the year you evolve into the best version of yourself, this is the year you lighten up if the strains you put on yourself are too tight… but most of all, I pray this is the year you finally believe in yourself.

Lots of love, laughter and coffee.