Resetting the compass – Day 5
This morning at the gym I was banging out a much needed workout to the Born This Way soundtrack. Lady G wrote this song mainly for our young people to send the message to them that they are just fine the way they were made and not to let who they are be defined by their peers.
As the various versions of the song rang loudly in my ears, I realized the song holds a lot of meaning for us grown up grown-ups, too. Though we are all grown up, as our lives change, we experience periods where we feel a little lost and at loose ends just as our young people do. My second year of retirement threw me into one of those tailspins. I was questioning who I now was, now that I wasn’t a teacher any longer. I began to let everything and everyone define who I should be. In the end, I found the only one who can define me is me. Right now my husband has been presented with a health issue that threw him into the same kind of tailspin. It’s a wake-up call. He is busy resetting his compass this month also. He is the only one who can define, using all the support from his family, friends, and doctors, just how he wants the rest of his life to play out.
I have wonderful family and friends who guide me and show me different ways to look at things and present all the different directions in which the compass can point. I have God to give me wisdom when the time comes to choose. But ultimately, when it comes to setting the compass, who I am and what I want in my life is my choice. God never forces our hand – or our heart. I am the only one who can define me, because as the song suggests, we are all unique and we should find joy in that.
I can’t write a certain book just because someone else did. I can’t paint a certain picture just because someone else did. I can’t dress and act a certain way just because someone else did. But I can take a few words from a novel, a few colors from a painting, a few articles of jewelry and clothing from those I admire and put them together to form a unique me. In turn, people may take a few of my words, a few of my colors, and piece or two of my style and create a unique self.
We are all connected and put on this earth to help each other along. What we give and take from each other works together to create the uniqueness in each of us, but we are the ultimate artists. Whether we are 15 or 55, no one else can craft who we are. It is up to us to reset our own compass.
And so, as another day goes by, the needle is moving toward appreciating me being born my way, and ….I have written.
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