Are you a Sale with 25% off?

As you look at your life, what do you see? Have you made friends, been in love?  Is your glass half full?  Is your glass half empty?

 It is funny how our lives changed as we get older and our views of what perfect entails are altered by time and experience.  When you are in high school, the world is your oyster.  There is nothing that you cannot be or cannot accomplish.

You are invincible. Unstoppable!

In college, you begin to define what you want in life.  You train for a desired career and start to try on the opposite sex to figure out what who would fit best

After college, you begin to work.  Hopefully, you get ahead and then, if you are lucky, you find the right person and get married.

When I was younger, I loved to write. It was my passionate. I would write about everything.  What I loved to write about was this couple.  She was the executive at a large firm in some big city.  As I think back, I find it interesting that I never gave my character a city to live in, even though I can close my eyes right now and see every detail her city, her office, and her life.

The guy in this story was named Dave. He was this wealthy executive that happened to live in her building.  The character was always working; she wanted to get ahead in life.  She was in a bad relationship and had vowed that she would develop her professional life, instead, and not worry about love.

One afternoon, while she was sitting outside, she had this chance encounter with Dave. The relationship eventually turned hot and steamy.  What I found interesting is that, once she fell in love with Dave, I stopped writing.

A couple weeks ago, I looked around for the flash drive with my 225-page book on it and realized that I could not find it. I don’t know where it is.  I cannot believe it. I am hoping that it will show up but I was not bothered that I did not know where it was.  That flash drive represents eleven years of my life! I don’t know where it is and I don’t really feel that upset about it. I should be because it is a big part of me!

As you look at your life, are you passionate about it?  Have you lost 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 years of your life?

When I was younger, I had several goals. I wanted to become a published author, get married, have three children, and buy an old house somewhere close to the city.  I would drive my children to school, put them to bed early, make love to my husband on a big screened-in porch, drink red wine, and be blissfully happy.

Most of my goals, I did not accomplish.  I am not angry about that. Life just did not turn out that way.  This is another interesting statement:   “Life did not turn out that way.”

What does that mean exactly?  Does it imply that I did not have any control over my circumstances.   Could it be that I had control and did not wait for that right situation to create my perfect bliss?

Sometimes, I think that life is like shopping.  You go from store to store looking for something.  You don’t quite find exactly what you are looking for right away. But, you feel that you need something. So, you go to the sales rack, and pick out something that you can leave with.  You try it on. It does not look great. But, at least it fits.  You walk up to the counter and purchase the item. I’ll bet you are asking:  

How is shopping like the life you make?

If you did not wait until you could find the exact dress you are looking for, then your life becomes just like that dress you have in your closest with the 25% off tag on it. You felt you had to have something and, giving up hope of finding exactly what you wanted, you settled for one that fit, was okay, and had a 25% off tag on it.

Have you turned your life into a just-okay-and-it-fits sale item with a 25% off tag on it? If that is so, you have settled for only 75% of the life that you wanted and deserved—if you are lucky.

Some of you (maybe, including me) are living less than that.  Bold statement, yes!  Do many of think it?   Heck, yes! Are you afraid to say?  Afraid to admit it?

Bingo!

Now we are talking…….