"For of All Sad Words of Tongue and Pen, the Saddest are These, It Might Have Been....." John Greenleaf Whittier
Regret is one of the heaviest emotions you can carry around, and can be released in countless ways: through forgiveness, through spiritual practices, or, in many cases, some healthy tears about what might have been.
In every case, if you do not obstruct the natural expression of life, there is another possibility, which can only be entertained if we are willing to become fully present to our deep soul self. If there is regret, there is also a desire to have the essence of what you regret in your life. Based on the Law of Polarity, there exists a corresponding desire to fulfill or realize something. I call this your DREAM.
At whatever age, going for your dream requires courage and willingness to risk, and this can be especially challenging if you are older. One of my clients described it this way, "I have more runway behind me than I do ahead of me, and it feels as if time is running out."
I am here to dispel the myth that time is running out. You are simply running out of excuses!!!
The Soul is the journey of attention through our lives-where we put our attention. If you have a dream that you keep putting on the back burner, you are not putting your heart and soul into your dream, which is why it is not happening.
The most common excuses are allowing others to come before yourself, fear of failure, and choosing some illusion of security over risking whatever you would have to risk to fulfill your dream. I see it all the time when people express a desire to start their own business, but are not willing to take money out of savings to invest in the support needed to do just that. They are saving for a retirement in which they will still wonder what might have been.
The truth is that one of the biggest reasons for people who consider themselves "older," (50 and above as far as I am concerned) hesitate to take the necessary risks is not because they are any less capable than younger people. It is because you must humble yourself to become a beginner again, and revisit all the fears and insecurities that kept you from taking the risk all along.
Often you will have successful mentors (as I do) who are far younger than you are. You must be trainable, willing to learn, willing to surrender your false pride and instead, feel a genuine pride that you are putting your money where your mouth is, as they say!
Some Late Bloomers
Think about some of these incredible people, who began later in life:
Juliia Childs did not even begin to cook until she was 40.
Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Chicken fame was 66 when he started his now famous empire.
Georgia O'Keefe revisited her passion for art later in life, and went on to paint for decades. She has been quoted as saying: "I've been terrified every day of my life but that's never stopped me from doing everything I wanted to do."
There are many benefits to being a "late bloomer," or as a friend of mine called me, "ever blooming." In her article, "Women of the Hippie Generation are Emerging as the Primary Sacred Feminine Change Agents," Marlow Aster writes: "I believe that most of the hippy generation are like "sleepers" in our society, just waiting for a cosmic clock to tick over to the time when they are roused once again to their idealistic visions, except this time, they will have power, money and influence on their side, all of which were sorely lacking in their struggles during the sixties and seventies. And the lead seems to be coming from the women of that era."
I have spoken to 3 women this week, in their early 60's, who are on fire with a mission to contribute their particular gifts to the world. I had never met them before, and yet, we immediately recognized each other as "sisters" from an era when we set out to break the rules because they did not make any sense.
And here we are again. Not much is making any sense if you sit back and wait for change, either in yourself, or anywhere else. We have hopefully accumulated some wisdom along the way, and have a perspective to offer that is quite unique to being older. It is no longer about rebelling against the establishment, but co-creating something quite new that has been alluded to by countless spiritual teachers for millennia.
Years ago, when I studied psychodrama, I heard this anecdotal story about Sigmund Freud and Jacob Moreno (the founder of psychodrama) walking and having a conversation. Freud said to Moreno, "I analyze people's dreams," to which Moreno replied, "I help people dream again."
I became a psychodramatist! I still am!!!
What have you been practicing and preparing to do all your life? Your Soul is ageless. You have all the time you need!
Kathleen Hanagan, LCSW, coaches committed individuals and business owners who want to make a difference into breakthrough terrain where they take quantum leaps to manifest the level of success they have been dreaming about. She combines her passion for relationship work, expertise in business, and her mastery in the emotional realm, with her commitment to expanding the consciousness of Oneness on the planet. Her unique mentoring programs, VIP intensives and workshops serve as a roadmap to support those called to contribute their gifts, by helping them release limiting beliefs and patterns and stepping into their brilliance, while manifesting genuine prosperity. Join her at http://kathleenhanagan.com/, to apply for a complimentary breakthrough strategy session, which will pave a path to profit with a deep sense of purpose.
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