I’m 50!
This is Life and What I Make Of It. So Far.
“The truth is, we know so little about life, we don’t really know what the good news is and what the bad news is.” — Kurt Vonnegut
If we were to ask my 25 year-old self what she thinks of our life at almost 50, it would be a mixed bag. She’d have questions.
She’d start by skimming for “major goals.” How did you end up living in a house half the size of the one you grew up in? With less than half the number of bathrooms? Oh… you’re divorced. That explains it. The one thing we totally weren’t going for. She always tries for a slightly jaded and worldly take.
She wouldn’t want anyone to think she was naive enough to hope, but of course she hopes — spilling over with dreams and fantasies. Just like everyone, she held pictures and scripts inside of what a good or successful adult life would be. For some, we imagine something quite different than the life we grew up in or for others, we imagine something similar to but “surpassing” our parents. To be young, is to be aspirational.
So given the top line facts of home and divorce, 25 year-old Me gives Current Me a concerned look.
I’m not trying to deflect, Current Me says, but there’s more to it.