Should I write a new chapter ... or a new book?
Looking backwards can instruct us, but it can also weigh us down
I had lunch with an old friend this week, and we spoke about reinvention. In particular, we discussed how some people of our age are still living on past glories.
While I was able to agree that that was true of others we knew, perhaps I wasn’t as honest with my friend, or myself, where I am in my own life.
Of course, I can mention many things I’ve left behind, but maybe I don’t have the same clarity about the things I’ve held onto for no good reason. And I’m not talking about physical things — I’ve already covered that topic here and here.
Reminiscing is fine, but it becomes a problem when you fail to see that you are not that person from the past, and you never can be again. (Perhaps you never were.)
And part of that process is recognising that there are ambitions and dreams that will go unfulfilled.
But, at the same time, if you change your way of thinking, there are possibilities for the future that you may have never considered.
It all comes down to the way you define yourself. Sticking to what you know and doing things the way you’ve always done them is not a good idea if you are still chasing rainbows and unicorns.
This is on my mind because I’m going through some big changes in my life. There are important decisions to be made.
The first one is that I’m going to take another cruise. I’ll be on board the former Costa Luminosa on November 6 when it makes its maiden voyage out of Brisbane as part of the Carnival fleet.
Why? Because, thanks to COVID, I had a cruise credit that I had to spend. Also, like the ocean, that’s the way I roll …
FEEDBACK
My posts about sorting through my belongings struck a chord with several people.
Alan: “I've been cleaning out my family home in Sydney as we're selling it, and the stuff I want to keep keeps multiplying.”
Jill: “I love 'stuff', Marie Kondo can shut up!”
Michelle: “Why not I say? If it makes you happy.”