Too old to give up on childhood dreams?

Guilty Mother - 7 May 16

I was recently reading in the Yorkshire Post that amazingly, almost nine out of ten Brits believe it’s never too late to follow your dreams. A survey of 2,000 adults found that secretary turned author, J K Rowling was amongst the most inspirational Brit. Seeing other inspiration people means that many of us believe it’s never too late to give up on our dreams or learn new skills.

The more I think about this, the more it makes me realise how true this. As a good example, it’s taken me a long time to start blogging. I have spoken about writing for years and I think my husband was bored senseless of me talking a good talk, but never putting pen to paper. But I’ve finally done it. Guilty Mother is here and nearly seven thousand lovely people, read and enjoy it every week. I still pinch myself when I remember I am only four months into my blogging journey. Who knows where this will take me. Perhaps this is just the start.

When I started motivational speaking, I had to think hard about what I hoped people would get from my keynote. Would people really be inspired by what I have to say? After all, it’s just me, Guilty Mother. I always thought I was destined for drama school and all my close friends will agree, I am theatrical in my nature with great jazz hands! But sometimes, even though you think you are destined for something, life takes a different turn and it wasn’t meant to be. Things didn’t turn out so bad and I ended up running a successful business with my brother, which we still operate together today. But was that partly timing or simply partly luck?

If you ask your seventeen-year-old self, what am I going to be or what will I do when I am older, most us us won’t have the answer. A number of my friends are taking a change of direction right now. Partly because working full time and commuting to London is not be glamorous as it sounds, but many of us do it because we enjoy our work. As some of us near the big 4-0, we are slowly but surely growing in confidence. Feeling braver and something inside us encourages us to try something different or even – make a difference. Some just want to be their own boss and work around their own schedule, simply because we can’t keep up on someone else’s schedule.

A few people around me have made me sit up and recognise that it’s never too late to give up your childhood dreams. I mean, I’ll be honest, if you dreamt of being a superhero, I hate to break it to you, but it’s not going to happen. For Guilty Mother however, as a child, my dream was quite straightforward. I just wanted to be on the stage. I can’t think of anything else that suited my personality. Well, I might not be an actress but I’ve worked hard to earn my mic pack and I’m officially on the stage speaking to hundreds of people. I did it – just not in the way I envisaged all those years ago. I’ll be honest, it’s not EastEnders, nor is it a rom-com with Ryan Gosling but – life has a funny way of showing us opportunities we didn’t even see were right in front of us all the time.

My dad sat his Spanish GCSE exam when he was sixty, demonstrating that you are never too old to learn something new. I recently went to London was watch my mother in law proudly pick up a Master of Science award at her graduation. My sister in law recently got her black belt in Taekwondo, which is an achievement that far surpasses anything I can think of. Really, I am the one who is in awe of all these individuals. Never giving up on their dreams and it takes a lot of dedication and courage to reach these goals.

So if you are thinking of writing a blog, learning a language, running your own business, travelling somewhere you’ve always wanted to go. My advice? Just do it. No matter what happens, you’ll always feel better that you’ve given something a try. So, Guilty Mothers. Let’s be a little braver and embrace whatever is coming next.

Perhaps it’s just the beginning…

Guilty Mother

Guilty Mother is an honest and (sometimes funny) blog for mums who feel guilty about juggling work, kids and home-life. Here's to feeling less guilty!

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