“Learn to love revision.” – Wally Lamb
When we are kids and don’t succeed at something, we demand a “do-over.” We are little and adorable, and who really gets anything right on the first try? We are Life Newbies! Sticky, imperfect Rugrats! Then we grow up and hold ourselves to strict standards.
We stop believing in do-overs and pressure ourselves to get everything right the first time. Even if we have never attempted something before we demand ourselves to “know” how to perfectly execute it on our first tries.
No matter what life throws us, for some reason we think we should be experts in everything we do every, single, try. No do-overs for us!
If we follow that self-imposed law life will stay orderly. That is the reward guaranteed to all Little Miss Perfects.
And then something happens that we didn’t expect. Something wayyyy less than perfect. Like being betrayed by the person we trusted the most. Our husbands. The ones we’ve been with for decades of the lives we thought were award-worthy.
They cheat and they run and that’s it for that “perfect” relationship. (Gulp!) There will certainly be no do-overs nor should there be. That would be a bad thing. Probably even worse then it was the first time around, to be honest. We. Know. This.
For us Leftat50’s the do-over we get is to start fresh down a happier, more fulfilling, more soul-opening life path. A revision of our life story. That’s an amazing thing!
But there are times when, even though know it’s a blessing, we hate this whole revision thing. This “Life of My Own Making Stuff” seems like a lot of work. When this happens, I have to defer to one of my favorite authors, Wally Lamb, and I have to learn to love revision. That’s what life is no matter what we want it to be, or think it should be. Life-Stuff happens and we have are forced to do life a different way.
My straight-A Lovelies, it’s called “imperfection.”
It’s time for us to treasure that word like a beautifully flawed crystal! To hold it up to the sun and the stars and admire it. Because now we are single again but decades older. By our very natures, by life itself, we are being begged to drop the Miss Perfect titles that kept us from enjoying anything. It’s time to realize we don’t have to Ace anything anymore!
So ski down that ski slope even if you’ve never skied before. If you fall in front of everyone, guess what? They’ve all fallen too. Falling is part of learning a new skill and learning to live a new way is an imperfection worth enjoying! A Happy Life is your Extra Credit.
We all go through major life transitions when relationships end… Through this website, I will share my thoughts as I walk the path of “New-Self” discovery. It doesn’t matter which side of 50 you are on. The real question is, Are you ready to live life? To forge a Path of Your Own Making (For a change!)? Then stop dwelling over the What-Might-Have-Beens and join me. Share your thoughts here, comment on mine, and let’s do this together!