Prologue
Prologue
Not quite a year ago, I retired from teaching preschool part time out of my home. Initially I was busy helping to complete major work projects on our home: kitchen counters and sink and new floors in the sitting/dining room and kitchen. Added to that a period of time that my husband was quite sick and I was kept more than busy. As one day followed another, I spent time reflecting on my life. searching for my new norm. I still have enough uncompleted projects to fill my days but my being ached for something more. Something out of the ordinary, different than what I had spent the last sixty some years doing.
I hadn't come to any grand conclusions or discoveries when several events collided, setting me on a new trajectory. First was pondering the biblical promise of an abundant life and what that might look like in my own life. Expanding on that was attending a Bible Study that my daughter led on the same topic. Among other things, we discussed thankfulness, joy, and prayer. Out of those weeks of reflecting and studying came the conclusion that I would probably never travel the world, that the changes in my life might appear insignificant to others, but for me they would be life altering.
The second event surrounded the celebration of my 63rd birthday. The get away that my husband and I had planned got canceled at the last minute due to the coronavirus leaving me disappointed and depressed. My daughter, ever the encourager, said in passing that I should be like cousin Karen and do 63 new things this year. Her cousin, a bit of an introvert, had challenged herself on her fortieth birthday to do forty things in the coming year that were on her bucket list so to speak or things a bit out of her comfort zone.
The soil of my life was well tilled and ready for change, and that seed of a thought took root and amazingly fast put forth roots and sprouted. I had just finished watching "Julie and Julia" (where Julie blogs about cooking through Julia Child's cookbook on French cooking for American housewives) which resulted in the thought, "I should blog about it." So today my daughter helped me set up this blog which will be about the 63 things that I do this year. (The title, The Third Act, comes from a suggestion I read that that is what the retirement years should be called.)
Sixty-three, one for each year of my life, seems like a lot but it is at least what I am aiming to accomplish. I don't have a bucket list although I have thought about making one numerous times. Whenever I had pen in hand ready to begin, my mind was always a blank. I don't even have a vague list forming in my mind now of some of the adventures I would like to have this year. I do know that many of them may seem small centering on the development of joy and thankfulness and mindfulness in my life. Even though I have no list I am not concerned because I believe that the adventures will materialize one after the other as the year unfolds. When I finish one, the next one will become evident.
My life now has a new direction. I am ready to leap into the unknown. Let the journey begin.
Not quite a year ago, I retired from teaching preschool part time out of my home. Initially I was busy helping to complete major work projects on our home: kitchen counters and sink and new floors in the sitting/dining room and kitchen. Added to that a period of time that my husband was quite sick and I was kept more than busy. As one day followed another, I spent time reflecting on my life. searching for my new norm. I still have enough uncompleted projects to fill my days but my being ached for something more. Something out of the ordinary, different than what I had spent the last sixty some years doing.
I hadn't come to any grand conclusions or discoveries when several events collided, setting me on a new trajectory. First was pondering the biblical promise of an abundant life and what that might look like in my own life. Expanding on that was attending a Bible Study that my daughter led on the same topic. Among other things, we discussed thankfulness, joy, and prayer. Out of those weeks of reflecting and studying came the conclusion that I would probably never travel the world, that the changes in my life might appear insignificant to others, but for me they would be life altering.
The second event surrounded the celebration of my 63rd birthday. The get away that my husband and I had planned got canceled at the last minute due to the coronavirus leaving me disappointed and depressed. My daughter, ever the encourager, said in passing that I should be like cousin Karen and do 63 new things this year. Her cousin, a bit of an introvert, had challenged herself on her fortieth birthday to do forty things in the coming year that were on her bucket list so to speak or things a bit out of her comfort zone.
The soil of my life was well tilled and ready for change, and that seed of a thought took root and amazingly fast put forth roots and sprouted. I had just finished watching "Julie and Julia" (where Julie blogs about cooking through Julia Child's cookbook on French cooking for American housewives) which resulted in the thought, "I should blog about it." So today my daughter helped me set up this blog which will be about the 63 things that I do this year. (The title, The Third Act, comes from a suggestion I read that that is what the retirement years should be called.)
Sixty-three, one for each year of my life, seems like a lot but it is at least what I am aiming to accomplish. I don't have a bucket list although I have thought about making one numerous times. Whenever I had pen in hand ready to begin, my mind was always a blank. I don't even have a vague list forming in my mind now of some of the adventures I would like to have this year. I do know that many of them may seem small centering on the development of joy and thankfulness and mindfulness in my life. Even though I have no list I am not concerned because I believe that the adventures will materialize one after the other as the year unfolds. When I finish one, the next one will become evident.
My life now has a new direction. I am ready to leap into the unknown. Let the journey begin.
Comments
Post a Comment