Career Reinvention: A New Me at 62!

Today is my birthday and I am so pleased to share it with my readers here on Midlife Boulevard and on my blog.  Not because I desire all the best wishes, but because I consider you to be dear friends and this is a very significant birthday.  I am progressing into my sixties and honestly I do not fear this number at all.

Today I desire to set aside fear and make a declaration.  By the end of this post, I will introduce you to my new boss.  I knew in January, this would be a big year.  It began with one word on my resolution list…COURAGE.  At that time, I was not aware of what it meant.  I only knew COURAGE was on my mind.

On January 23, a favorite blogger Catherine Robinson wrote the following and I pasted it into my planner because the words resonated with me, “Don’t you just love it when plans start to come together…plans that have been years in the making, of course, long hours, hard work, the emotional roller coaster…but you can finally see that little glimmer of where you want to be…just waiting for you. Never give up…maybe tweak things here and there, but believe in yourself and remember to enjoy yourself along the way…hard work is always rewarded…just sometimes it takes a little longer than we had hoped…or maybe it waits until we are ready…until we are honest with ourselves…until we love what we do and then we see our perspective on life change.”

It has taken time over this summer for me to see the security of paychecks on the first and the fifteenth have become shackles around my ankles.  It is time today, to take the shackles off and throw them high into the air.  This is the ultimate display of COURAGE in my life so far.  For today, at 62, I am becoming my own boss.  Since June, I have diligently spent time filling out application after application and all the while request after request have filled my email for contract job opportunities.  Sometimes, I have to be hit over the head with a brick to see what is really going on…I see it now.

I am beginning my own business as a freelance writer, professional blogger, marketing consultant, and public relations consultant…with details yet to be finalized.  Today, I have clients and support of a loving family.

So, I ask you, my friends, where in your life do you need a little courage?  I would love to have you join me in taking big steps in the second half of life and we can walk it together.  Part of my journey will be to write about the ups and downs…the challenges and the victories.  Today I am 62 and ready to blaze a new trail and have fun doing it!

My fashion of choice?  A smile and confidence…what are you wearing?

Thank you for joining me in The Joy Boutique…see you next week!