It’s too late
It’s here, the year 2025, and it’s too late. Life is basically over, after all.
All those dreams I had are gone, lost to the wind. I wanted to be everything: a singer, a dancer, a doctor, a scientist. Adults would laugh at the little cherub out of her mind, “Well, how are you going to accomplish all of that?”
Smugly, I’d tell them, “I’ll become a scientist first and figure out a way to live forever!”
Silly me, so foolish. My childhood promptly stomped that idealism out of me, repeated homelessness, dangerous people, and constant alcoholism around me almost took me out of going to college at all, but when I made it, I focused on earning money. Business classes! Math! A job in government!
And I did make money. Good money. I was able to pay off my student loans in two years, taking a trip to Australia while I was at it, but in my 8 years with the government, I also learned something: money was a LOT less important than I thought it was.
After a good year of pushing off quitting, I finally did it, abruptly, without a saftey net—that was the only way it was getting done. Back in school for Marketing, I set about to combine my business background with a more artistic and crteative pursuit. Taking entry level jobs, I was able to build up the experience I needed to get a firm foothold in Marketing and that’s enough, right?
After all, it’s too late for more. I’m already stuck in the path I’ve made.
SIKE. It’s been another 8 years and I’m ready for another jump. Why not? Who says life is over? Life is only over when you stop learning, stop growing, and stop chasing, and I’m not sure I’m capable of any of that.
I have learned that one of the great things about getting older is that you stop caring so much about what others think.
I hope you’ve seen them: the memes about famous folks that started late. But I want you to really think about it: Samuel L. Jackson was in his 40s before he became A-list. He started acting in the 70s. That means that in 1994, when Pulp Fiction came out, he had been working—struggling—for almost 20 YEARS.
J.R.R. Tolkien was 45 when The Hobbit was published. More than HALF of his life has passed, before he published one of the most famous books of all time.
Colonel Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (or Poulet Frit Kentucky en Montreal), opened that first store at the age of 62.
The examples are nearly endless. The only thing that can 100% stop you from achieving what you want?
Not trying.
I’m not in my grave yet, and neither are you.
