A Writer’s Midlife Confession
thanks, tom | Parkville, MO 2008 I’m thirty-five, single, and my life doesn’t look like I hoped it would at this point. There are plenty of great things I’ve experienced and friends I’ve made along the way — all of which and whom I’m deeply grateful — but if I’m honest I expected more of myself. So, what now? Decide this is as good as it gets for you? Give up on your dreams (because you must’ve picked the wrong ones if they haven’t yet been realized) and pursue something else? Or, dig in your heels, choose to believe again, and keep trying no matter how bleak your current circumstances may be? I choose option number three. But what does “keep trying” mean? And what does “not giving up” look like on a daily basis? The truest answer I know is to hopewait. It’s also the one that makes you look fairly foolish most of the time — and sometimes lazy. And more often than not, you’re the one making those judgments against yourself. Why can’t you just do something? What are you waiting for?
