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Seeing is Believing

A few years ago I was playing out in the snow with 2 of my grandsons, they were 3 and 4 years old. I said “you guys wanna build a snow fort?” They said “ya let’s build a snow fort!” So We began building our snow fort. We made a bunch of medium sized snow balls and I began stacking them. The wall would get about a foot high and one of them would knock it over and laugh. So I would start again. And once again I would get it up so high and then one of them would come and destroy it while my back was turned. After a few attempts I decided it was futile so I got them started on rolling up big snowballs to make a snowman. While they were busy doing that I went back to building the fort. Once I got it to about 3 feet high the older one came over and said “That’s really cool” and started helping me. Before you know it the younger one came over and instead of knocking it over he too started to help me build. We continued to build the wall almost 5 feet high and they played in it for the rest of the time we were outside. I realized after that they had never seen a snow fort before. They were helping me build something but had no idea what it was, so they sabotaged it. It dawned on me that we as adults do the same thing with our lives. We are building our life and we set out on a journey not sure where we are going or what we want to be. How can you build something when you don’t know what it is supposed to look like.

When we turn 40 we are given a gift. The gift of a second chance. It is very possible that you will live to be 80 years old, or older if you take good care of yourself. So that means at 40 you get the gift I spoke of. Your second chance.
Maybe in your first 40 years of life you made some decisions that didn’t quite turn out as you planned. This is when you can take advantage of that second chance and rebuild your life into something you can be proud of. When you were 18 years old you had to decide what you want to do for a living. You had no experience out in the real world so you can only guess what it would be like to be a plumber or a lawyer or an airline pilot. You are basically picking a career for yourself without even knowing if you will like it. But you go ahead and take the training necessary to become what you think you should become. How did that work out for you? Are you happy with the way your life has developed? Or do you feel it’s time for a change?
At 40 you have much more life experience. You know what works for you and what doesn’t. But, you don’t know what it’s like to be 60 or 65. This is the time to re-examine your life and make it what you want it to be. However if you don’t know what it’s like how can you build it? If you can see it then you know what is necessary to make it happen. I say do your research ask yourself some important questions about where you want to be when you retire. Don’t just let it happen, make it happen. And the way you can make things happen in your life is to visualize. Find pictures depicting what you want and post them around your home. When I was in my 50s I decided that when I retire I want to spend my life camping and traveling. I found a picture of a truck pulling a trailer through the mountains. I cut that picture out, framed it and put it where I could see it every day. I now have the rig I dreamed of and I am living my dream. Seeing is believing. If you are an addict and you want to get clean, get in touch with other addicts through groups and you will see people like you who have gotten clean and this will inspire you to get clean yourself. When you see that someone else who was in the same mess as you has successfully kicked their habit and built a responsible life it will inspire you to do the same. Seeing is Believing
We are all masters of our own destiny or are we? Are you the master of your destiny or are you just letting you destiny happen. If it’s the latter you may end up with something that you don’t want. Where do yousee yourself in 20 or 30 years?Have you even thought about it?It’s going to happen. You are going to age and eventually retire. Will you be prepared? If you have experienced addiction or bankruptcy or if you have lost your job or your business has failed. Don’t feel that you are out of options. I am here to tell you that there is life after 40, lots of it. There is enough life after 40 for you to build the life you have always dreamed of. But it will remain a dream if you don’t take control and make things happen your way.
Maybe you don’t see yourself as one day being a success. If that’s the case you will continually sabotage yourself and you will never find the happiness you seek Just like my grandsons kept knocking down the walls of the snow fort, you will continue to hold yourself back from becoming the person you were meant to be.
Remember, seeing is believing. Find pictures of what you want your life to look like.Put them up in your home. Surround yourself with positivity. When those things become reality, and they will, you will start to believe that anything is possible.That is when the magic really starts to happen.