It Is Too Late, I'm Too Old

Or.....it is never too late.

Another part of my struggle with just about everything I want to do is that I was a child prodigy. When a child prodigy grows up, she's just a really smart and (slightly?) annoying adult with the whispered memory of having been special and held apart for admiration. A 14 year old surgeon is amazing, but that same kid grows up and a 40 year old surgeon is not notable. The same goes for a child poet. I had talent, it was a gift, but that success is talent nurtured and matured and I did not do that, I walked away.

It is not too late for me to pick the pen back up. I may have to back track a bit and practice, but I can do it. Too often we are told that if you don't start something when you are a child, then it is too late. Guess what folks.....an adult CAN learn a second language, can learn to read music and play an instrument, can learn new skills. It will still take 10,000 hours to get good at it. That's the same as a child, but as an adult we are more mindful of those hours. As an adult we are more critical of mistakes, more sensitive to humiliation. 

10,000 hours is a lot of dedication. 20,000 hours and you can be amazing. It is easier to dedicate the hours if you are immersed in it, like a language in a new place you are living. It is easier to dedicate the hours if your parents are paying for lessons. It is like breathing if you really, really love what you are doing.

Find that thing. Start logging in the hours. If you are 36 (like me) and say you might live to 85......That's a whole lotta good years to master something.

My Aunt Deedle is my inspiration for this. She never let anyone tell her she couldn't do something. At 35 she bought a farm, not previous experience. Soon after she became a Realtor. She was a wife and partner to my uncle, who needed a quiet bit of care physically when he wasn't being amazing. When he got really sick, they packed up and moved across country and bought a rural plantation in Virginia. When he died, she packed up again and moved to Texas, bought a bed and breakfast, and took an African safari cruise and tour to South Africa. She was a gun totin', State Fair baking, Renaissance crafting, amazing woman. She's in her 70's and still running at it.

In fact, the happiest women I know are much older than me, always trying new things, learning new skills, and running at the target of life. From that I have learned, it is never too late. In fact, my 30's are just waiting in line for that ultimate push into really living fully.

Go. Get some of that cake. If there is no cake in the house, it is time to learn to bake.