With Age Comes Boldness

Let life teach you how to live better

Once upon a time, there was a kid who felt inadequate, even around friends and family. This kid never felt like he fit in. This outside-looking-in perspective made him insecure.

Sound familiar?

That’s probably an apt description of most kids and teens.

In my case, you can add painful shyness and a clear aversion to being in the spotlight to the mix.

Even the most popular kids struggle to find their comfort zone in the world. They fear what might happen if they didn’t toe the line on social norms.

If they said the wrong thing.

If they wore the wrong outfit.

If they brought the wrong thing to lunch.

These seem like small things, but we’ve all been there. We know how horrible it can be to be teased and ridiculed by your peers.

The reality is that this social meekness, this aversity to rocking the boat, can prevent you from being your true self.

The Power of Life Experiences

Regardless of the path you’ve taken in life, it’s been filled with powerful experiences. Some are painful experiences, but all of them offer the opportunity to learn and grow.

To benefit from your many experiences, you have to be open to finding those life lessons. More than that, you have to find ways to learn and grow from them.

Of course, things like the loss of a job or an unexpected health diagnosis will rock your world. Even the small things, though, can be powerful fuel for growth.

Reflecting on nature’s smallest creatures can be life-changing at times. It often comes with the realization that you are just one of many. Finding your insignificance allows you to live freely.

More than that, it allows you to find your true self… and to love yourself.

Be Bold, My Friends

I recently read that older adults are more likely to take risks than younger adults. Perhaps it’s because they are closer to the end?

Perhaps.

I prefer to think, though, that they simply don’t care anymore about what people say or think. They live boldly and on their own terms because they realize how fleeting time is and how insignificant they are in the grand scheme of things.

With age, you feel far more comfortable in your own skin. You know exactly who you are, and you adopt a “take it or leave it” mindset. Everyone doesn’t have to like you. You don’t need them to.

The boldness to live life on your own terms is powerful. Some people find this boldness early in life, but many of us settle into this boldness with age and through experiences.

“Freedom lies in being bold.” ~ Robert Frost

Be bold, my friends.

Read Converge: Circumstances of Fate.

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