What do you want to do with the Rest of Your Life?
By Sharon L. Demarte, M.A.
"What do you want to do with the rest of your life?" This
question came from a man I looked up to. As I stumbled for
the answers, it became apparent that I had none. I didn't
know what I wanted to do. In fact, I didn't know much at
all about what I wanted.
"A woman your age should know what she wants to do
with her life by now," he said. I was mortified and
devastated. I felt embarrassed and ashamed. There was something
wrong with me; I didn't know what I wanted.
My mind grabbed onto that message like a dog with a bone
and wouldn't let go. My mind didn't remind me that I had
spent the last 24 of my 44 years raising three children,
most of the time as a single mom; that I had gone back to
school at 41 and was working full time, going to school full
time and taking care of a home and family by myself. No,
none of that entered my mind; it was too full of shame that
I didn't know what I wanted.
I believe in making your dreams a high priority. That is
well and good, if you know what your dreams are. But, what
if you don't? Well, the truth that I know now, thirteen years
after that painful message, is that most people don't know
what they want! As Thoreau so profoundly stated, "The
majority of men (and women) lead lives of quiet desperation."
If you are a person who is frustrated by not knowing what
you want, I'm here to tell you that that frustration only
means that you want to know. Frustration only means we don't
have something we want. It's not a bad thing; rather it's
a good thing. Honor that frustration because it is a message
from your inner self, nudging you to find out.
If you don't know what you want, that simply means there
is a gold mine inside you, just waiting to be discovered.
If you are ready and willing to find out what you want, you
can choose to be the prospector of that gold. The answers
are inside you; you just have to mine for them.
No one has to live in "quiet desperation." We
all have the ability to get in touch with the kind of life
we want and to go for it. To mine for that gold, you will
need desire, willingness, persistence, patience, support
and tools. It's up to you to come up with the desire, willingness,
persistence, patience and support. I will give you some tools
that have worked for my clients and myself.
Copyright © 2000, 2001,2002 all rights reserved.
U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1536-5891
Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute One of a Kind News so
long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author
is attached.
The author of this newsletter is: Sharon L. Demarte, M.A.
http://www.sharondemarte.com
sharon@sharondemarte.com
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