Privileged

When the pace of life is fervently furious and you have been on that ride for years managing work, kids, pets and various other afflictions that life brings in it's course, it takes time to assure yourself that just as the wheel was in your hand, so is the brake.

 Lauding a quiet life has some of the eccentricity of praising rain.

As a woman, I have been told, to take a break is a privilege. It is convenient to stop being part of the work force that so many women aspire to and sometimes fight for. I don't deny that privilege. I see it as pro choice.  

I am at that stage of life where it’s the perfect time to enjoy the simple little pleasures. Now,  more than ever, I can take stock of things that strike a deeper chord with me. I am over 50 and free from caring what people think.

These fill me with peace and joy..

A setting sun

A quiet evening at home

Dinner out with a friend

A random text saying I’m missed

Time alone in a coffee shop

A long quiet walk by the sea

A workout

A visit to a bookstore

Meeting new people

Discovering places, or rediscovering and seeing places with a new lens

Experiencing moments, emotions I used to ignore

A meaningful conversation 

Getting up before dawn

Acknowledging that I’m not perfect and don’t have to be

Acknowledging my new infirmities and accepting them as normal

Accepting that I have more past than future

Trying new things

Anger is not something I experience for too long. I let it go and accept that the world owes me nothing and we are all human

I can walk away from drama

Knowing that nothing is forever, and understand the depth of the statement

Wear what I want without thinking whether anyone else will like it

Looking forward to a weekend of doing nothing

Never feeling I’m missing out

And so many more…

While the world rotates on its axis and day turns to night, I choose to make the 24 hours count. I choose not to, any longer, pack those hours with unambiguous gains. I choose to get off the ride.