Looking back

I used to say a great way to assess what you want to do in life is to imagine what you’ll enjoy looking back on when you’re 80.  But these days, as I hear of so many people spending hours binging on television, absorbed in playing computer games, or working in jobs they hate, I’ve decided a five year review and rewrite might be better.

By review I don’t mean wallowing in all that went wrong and getting bogged down in feeling like a victim about it, that’s not going to help anyone.  Nor do I mean ticking off a big scorecard of achievements.  The reason for the review is to reflect on how far you've come, how happy you’ve been, and to note the stand out things that you’d like to do more of or change.

Take a minute now and think back on the last five years.  How much time did you spend doing what you love?  What could you have done less of?  If you’re not happy with what comes up then you’d better start to consider how you’re going to spend the next five years, or at the end you’ll have a whole decade you’re disappointed with.

Now, imagine yourself looking back five years from now.  How do you feel?  What memories did you create?  Were you learning?  Were you growing?  Did you make safe plans and fearfully cling to the results, or did you try new things and then laugh at how differently they turned out compared to what you expected?  

We all know life is about the journey, but if you never take the car out of the driveway you’re not going to see much.  However, if you focus on a destination, head towards it and follow the signs along the way, you might end up where you wanted to.  Or, you might end up somewhere different with more knowledge gained along the way.  Or you just might end up somewhere too wonderful for you to have ever imagined.

Why not take ten minutes now to start driving your life?  Grab a pen and paper, find a spot where you feel indulgently comfy, and sit and write as if it were five years from now.  Write a review of how fabulous the last five years have been.  Begin something like “It’s date, I’m in city/country, and have just finished/am about to start....  The last five years have been amazing because…”  

Write about what you’ve learned about yourself and others and how you used that insight to shift areas of your life and mould it into something wonderful.  Write the story you want to happen.  Don’t waste another day waiting for something to change.  Write yourself a future.

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