The desire to write and use the blog as a medium to reach out to people encouraging dialogue comes from an intense interest in human nature and the ability over the years to tap into my experiences and be able to see the rewards of my mentoring and coaching.  In a way it validates my existence and while I will always “live” on in the memory of my children and grandchildren and people with whom I have played a role in their lives – writing is memories in concrete and with today’s technology will always be in the “Cloud” and whatever legacy I leave will always be there. Egotistical –maybe but then aren’t we all in some form or another?

Reaching 70 brings with it introspection over 7 decades of living and the realisation that there is life after 70,  one can still aspire – there is no need to “think small”. To quote my partner

“If it is not magic it is mundane”

I do not do well with mundane!  No matter how hard there has to be fun.

So getting back to re-inventing oneself – “like” tends to find “like”  and so many of my friends, some considerably younger,  (age is not a component at all when it comes to this) – are facing challenges around this for a diversity of reasons.-

Retrenchment, early retirement, no promotional opportunities, locked in a career and bored, identity crises, relationship issues, being just a few.

I came across this quote

Albert Einstein said:

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in
the opposite direction”.

 

I liked this – it forced me to rethink how I was going to face up to the move to Canada where I have no network and no history. I started by following my own advice to everyone.

Find books that talk to you and imbibe what makes sense. However it just did not work for me somehow I just keep reading the same things in different formats – one of my failings or criticisms that is levelled at me by most people who know me and laugh about it is

“I am consistent in my inconsistency”, so for me to follow a set pattern and be disciplined enough to follow a route plan, set measures and re-evaluate goals, just does not do it for me.

I am the internal optimistic – get an idea – jump in- learn on the way – make it happen – clean up afterwards.

On reflection had I embraced the principles of setting goals and learnt to follow the steps I may have benefited however “it is what it is”.