Sound familiar?  Of course it does.  It sounds familiar because this is programmed thinking at its finest.  “I’m too old!”  “It’s too late; the opportunity’s gone.”  ”My time has passed.”  “I can’t do this, I can’t do that.”  Whether it’s true or not is subjective.  What dream do you think you’re too old for?  Well, for starters … let’s rule out wanting to win the Olympic Gold speed diving medal if you’re 65 and just starting out.  However, if you want to author a book about the rewards life has granted you, or take that yearlong journey to travel the globe.…

I put my dreams on hold for over 25 years.  Some of them I thought were far-fetched pipes; others took a backseat to more important priorities.  Some priorities are not only important but justifiably important, like giving birth and raising a family.  Your responsibilities shift and priorities change and sometimes even the dreams you once held fade away, failing to manifest perhaps because the passion for them diminished over time.  But I always knew that through the years of working, living day to day, I yearned for something I couldn’t put my finger on.  Although I find immense joy singing and dancing in the rain, acting no longer beckons.What I do know – and what I learned as I acquired more wisdom – was that the small stuff I used to sweat no longer drenched me.  And once I learned to let go of the bigger stuff, I became quenched with knowledge that began to make my dream, purpose and passion materialize and manifest!  The moral of this story is that it doesn’t matter what age you are when you finally begin to live your dreams; the point is that you START.  But to live it you have to discover what it is first.  That’s the hardest part for some people.If you think about your life from age 18 through today and calculate the 365 days, 8,766 hours, 525,960 minutes, 31,557,600 seconds a year, how much of that time was spent in limbo?  How much more time will you spend in Limbo Land?  This blog isn’t to preach “purpose” to you; it’s to help you realize your “passion” – what, if anything, are you passionate about?  Passion is what fuels dreams.  And it just so happens that if you combine purpose with passion you will not only be living your dreams – you’ll know happiness like you have never known before.  But that’s a different blog – this one’s goal is a gentle wake-up all.  Get out of robo-auto pilot!

At 55 I chose to remove myself from auto pilot and go out and propel a dream – to become an actual pilot.  I know I’ve got a long, somewhat “turbulent” road ahead of me.  But unless I do this before I die, I will not know what it means to enjoy the freedom I cherish – time freedom, financial freedom, freedom to travel any time, anywhere.  Freedom to get to Maine at a moment’s notice if I’m craving a lobster roll.  Freedom to visit an ailing friend in another state.  Freedom to buy that hot handbag stocked only in Paris.  Freedom to attend a destination wedding.  Freedom to fly to Bora Bora because they are selling exclusive rights to their vacation huts.  Freedom to dance at a ball called “life.”