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?
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