If you could be any age, what would you pick?
Isn’t this such a “writer’s group” question? Well yeah. We sat down to get into it and discovered that you could look at the topic from a dozen different angles. Here are three alternatives that immediately popped into my head:
Groundhog Day
Would I ever want to live the same year over and over again?
When I think of this, it’s hard. It seems that all the awesome things in any given year are built on the traumas and challenges just weeks and months before.
Age 35–My separation and divorce leading up to meeting Craig.
Age 39–Adoption struggles just before traveling to Russia to pick up our boys.
Age 44–Birth moms changing their minds just before getting the call to adopt Aubrey.
Age 55–Covid and retiring from teaching right before I began the process to become a life coach.
Tuck Everlasting
This is a children’s novel about the question, “Is eternal life a blessing or a curse?” In the story, the main character has a decision to make when she discovers a spring on her family’s property whose waters grant immortality. Members of the Tuck family, having drunk from the spring, tell of their experiences watching life go by and never growing older.
I really loved how my body looked and felt when I was in my early 20s. I was fit and was running regularly. But I felt that the “sweet young thing” persona did not afford me any credit with knowledge gained through experience. At the time, I looked forward to having opinions and wisdom based on lived experience rather than the hypothetical and book-learned wisdom of others.
I’ve always wanted to get older and add to my experiences. I’ve never wanted to stay stuck looking like I did at one earlier point in my life.
Back FROM the Future
Live as yourself with the wisdom and knowledge and understanding of your future self. Ahhhh…I think this is the sweet spot. To be able to have the knowledge of the future to base current decisions…I’d love to be able to tap into my own future self, to access her thoughts and insights.
But I think I’ll stay right here–at 59. I’ll keep moving forward from here. I currently have the best life I’ve ever had. At this age and at this time, I have my family, kids, health, fitness, wisdom, education, and financial benefits that my past self worked for. And, I continue to grow and develop so that my 69, 79, and 89-year-old selves will appreciate what I’m doing and building today.
So the answer to the question, “If you could be any age, what would you pick?” is 59. I want to always be living here and now…always moving forward…living today in a way that will make my future self proud.
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