Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The 2nd Act: How To Create the Life That You Love

Welcome to “The 2nd Act” in my life.  As the curtains roll down on “The 2nd Act,” this is the time for me to create the type of life that I love and appreciate.  Not that I have not had a good life so far – it is simply time to do the things that I truly love and enjoy.

To me life is like a play with 3 acts.  The 3rd Act which I have yet to reach is about fully preparing for my "Golden Years." The 1st Act was long - it was hard but I made it. 

I had to work through many difficulties and issues but I count my blessings every day to see my family, especially my daughters bloom into the type of ethical and strong women that I can be proud of.

As I said in my last blog post, if I was still in the workplace, I would have been retiring this year. So now more than ever, I am creating the life that I love as I go into “The 2nd Act” of my life.

In “The 2nd Act” -- it’s about doing the things that I love foremost to me.  It’s time to appreciate the little things in life such as the wind blowing against my face; being able to get on a plane and fly across the country to say hello to a friend I haven’t seen in a couple of years; or getting in my car and driving down to Florida just to smell the ocean. 

The 2nd Act means setting very few alarm clocks.  Some days it means rising at the break of dawn and going to bed when the sun goes down – it just means “calling the shots” in a well-deserved life.

It means getting back to basics and living a natural and holistic lifestyle while I cut out all the toxic things in my life.  For me it wasn’t such a hard reach especially after seeing several friends and acquaintances succumb to a toxic world of illnesses and diseases that could have been prevented.

My 2nd Act means getting back to my first love which is “writing.” However, for years photography was my passion and hobby.  I grew up in a household where my family often took pictures of everyone and how I longed to be the one looking through the lens of a camera.

Photography was a way of looking back on my life and recording it.  It kept me focused on all my dreams and desires.  Even though I took mostly pictures of people over the years and have tons of memories – I thought seriously at one time about becoming a “landscape photographer.”

Even after loving photography for many years, I still had another love and that was for “greeting cards.”  My co-workers even had a nickname for me “Ms. Hallmark.” No matter the occasion – birthday, goodbye, marriage, sickness, death…I always had a stack of greeting cards to share with everyone in the office.

Even though I loved photography and even after taking a couple of classes, I eventually realized that I could change the world by writing a series of non-fiction empowerment books.  In 2001, I wrote my first book “Flying While Black: A Whistleblower’s Story” and that is when I realized I was destined to be a “writer.”

The 2nd Act means seeing myself in the mirror and being true to myself --while I am true to others. This is why I created a line of action-oriented self-help and reference books that solves many of the problems in the community.  The books are located at www.AngelsPress.com.

What does your 1st and 2nd Act mean to you?  Everyone should look at what is happening in the world -- all the turmoil today and count their blessings and realize they still have a chance to create the type of life they love.  If you are still breathing then it’s not too late.  Despite what other people tell you –it’s never too late!
  • When you are 30 years old you have 80% of your productive life left ahead of you.
  • When you are 40 years old you have 60% of your productive life left ahead of you.
  • When you are 50 years old you have 40% of your productive life left ahead of you.
What you need to realize is the reason the world is turned upside down right now is so you can figure out your place in it.   What can make you happy at this point in your life? 

Are you in the right relationship - living in the right city - working in the right career?  What career would you have been in if you weren't in your current career?

At some time in our lives, we are going to have a desire to change careers.  Many people change careers for reasons such as more money, more time with family, because of the failing economy.  No matter what the reason, it’s possible to create the type of life that you love.

Creating the type of life that you love can simply mean getting back to basics and starting from scratch again. The goal is to be true to “yourself” – don’t waste your time – or your life. 

If everyone got back to their first love and did the things that they really enjoyed doing with their life -- it would be such a better world.  People would be more happy and healthy which brings a greater sense of well-being.  Are you up for the challenge?