Living “The Life” of 100 Years
Part 3 – Yearning Years
They say that hindsight is 20/20 meaning that when we look back in our life, we see much more clearly what we should have done at different points over our life; positive or negative as that may be. More times than not, I think we tend to focus too much on decisions we made that we believe were incorrect at the time we made them and if we would have chosen a different path our current situation in life would be different. Much better of course!
As we age and daily face different challenges and opportunities in our lives, the number of decisions we make piles up for each of us. The negative outcomes of those decisions around doing or not doing something correctly or incorrectly in our past may be seen as regrets; based entirely from our current singular viewpoint at this time. Regrets or disappointments about our past choices are not something we want to look back on in our life. What regrets do you have so far in your life? Are you making better decisions today about the many tomorrows you have coming up in your future? Are you using your past to make a better tomorrow for you and for your family?
The simple truth is that today is the day that you create your yesterday. Tomorrow, you will look back at this very point in time which will be in your past. With this simple passing of time, the quiet rotation of the hour hand on a clock, those things you do today will soon be in your past and you will be looking back at them tomorrow. Make sure tomorrow, you do not regret what you did or did not do today. Make sure your today matters! Deep isn’t it? It should be, after all, this is “Your” life.
This blog “Yearning Years“ is part 3 of a three part series titled, Living “The Life” of 100 Years. It follows part 1, “Learning Years” and part 2 “Earning Years” published earlier on www.LifeLongU.com .
The series is intended to show that over the course of our life, hopefully around 100 years or so, most of us live through three different phases.
The first phase is “Learning” and covers about the first 35 years of our life. Here we learn how to take care of ourselves, our families, strengthen our body, sharpen our mind, ponder our soul and how best to interact with others. In this phase we learn how to think and learn how to do many different things.
The second phase is “Earning” and covers the middle part of our 100 year life or about age 35 to 65 years or so. In this phase, our life becomes more focused on earning by applying what we learned in our earlier years. In this phase the better you apply what you have learned may impact your earning potential greatly. Obviously, money is not everything, but we should earn to our true God-given potential and use those blessings for His intended purposes. Our learning never really stops in life, whether in school or in our daily lives, applying your knowledge or making educated decisions while taking action are what matters. Learn from your mistakes. Positive action is what moves us forward, increasing opportunities for growth of all kinds in our lives. Amassed and unutilized knowledge can lead to arrogance and waste.
The third phase is “Yearning” and it covers the last portion of our life; those years after we leave the earning phase, typically after 65 years or retirement. In this phase, if we learned well in our learning phase and applied what we learned during our earning phase, our yearning phase could be filled with many possibilities. The yearning phase is about fulfilling your true life purpose, completing those things you have not done and always wanted to do, about coming to understand that all things come to an end and how will you enjoy your final years. It’s also about surrounding yourself with family, friends and memories. Since you tend to have more discretionary time, it’s about giving back to others and sharing your wisdom, wealth and efforts.
This phase can also hold the most fear for us; although we each deal with it differently. The thoughts of aging, not having adequate funds to do what we always wanted to do, the chance of poor health affecting our inability to do what we always wanted to do and the loneliness because of loss of loved ones, friends and family members all affect this phase. Some of these will most certainly happen to each of us and that is not something we want to dwell on, but is a fact of life.
Make sure that today matters. Make sure that when your days are piled on top of each other, the combined total of what you did with them supplies you with what you want from life. Take responsibility for your life. Make sure that you have a plan for your life, that you use what you have learned and recognize that you may not know it all and may need help in some areas. Make sure you take action and seek out those that want to help and get their help. Don’t enter the “Yearning” phase filled with regrets but prepare to enter it with eagerness and truly Living “The Life” of 100 Years.
Gary J Kiecker