My third book, “Lessons From a Chequered Life” is about to be published so I can, I feel, now really call myself a writer; especially when I have two more books in hand. Which thoughts prompt me to write the blog that I’ve been putting off for a couple of weeks. Perhaps, to quote Pete Seeger, “There is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven”. Then again, perhaps, I was just being lazy.
Now a good friend once said of me, “To Mike, age is just a number”, while another was kind enough to say “As he gets older, he gets better”. I take both of those as enormous compliments as they are comments that, I hope, reflect the “me” I now feel myself to be. They stem from a belief that life is there for you to shape to enable you to live your dreams. After all, although they can help, no one else can actually do that for you. There is an alternative, however, which is to let life get in the way; as, for many, it does. So what’s the difference between living by one or other of these mantras?
Well, having moved very clearly from one to the other of these in my mid 30’s, I now see that, not only do I not have to live by the former, but that living by the latter has actually helped me to achieve things that I’d never, previously, thought possible. It has also given me the impetus to want to do more. So, how has my mindset changed and how do you try to match these conditions to your particular personal circumstances?
Well, what is interesting in this process is that change creates change whereas stasis doesn’t and can’t. So, think about what you really want. And I mean REALLY. Then work out the steps that you need to take to start the process off. Then take those first small steps. If you’re like me, you’ll be amazed at the difference. All you have to do is try.