Advice to my younger self
I have reached that point in my life where I can look back as much as I can see forward. Usually referred to as “middle age,” I prefer to call it the Age of Wisdom. Not that I have mastered wisdom by any stretch of the imagination, but I am certainly wiser than I once was, say, in my wild 20s and growing-pain 30s.
Selfie taken at the Queen’s Plate 2014
Throughout my life, more often than not I have gone against the grain. Reflecting back, going with the grain hasn’t worked for me. Job security, check. RRSPs, check. Home ownership, check. Car, check. Committed relationship, check, un-check, check, un-check. None of those things brought me happiness.
So what does it mean to go against the grain? Bucking trends. Avoiding herd mentality. Going it alone. Breaking rules…. essentially, creative expression and freedom. As the staying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss.
As I approach my fiftieth decade in this meat suit on planet Earth, I am not feeling the way I had anticipated I would feel like at this age. I presumed I would feel settled, contented, comfortable. Instead, I am feeling restless — again — and having a bigger pull than ever to keep the rolling stone in motion. Perhaps once a wild soul always a wild soul. Maybe there is no such thing as taming a wild horse – maybe it’s just breaking its spirit.
On Saturday, I had a day of self-care, something that is more important than ever as I begin to see signs of aging, with a lovely woman who is on a mission to help many other women look and feel beautiful – ultimately their best. Vian Sharef is a single mother and entrepreneur who I admire because she has not had an easy life and in spite of it has created tremendous success, and who I have put my complete trust into caring for my skin and slowing down the aging process (listen to my interview with Vian about anti-aging secrets).
Vian Sharef
After my session, I came home and looked in the mirror and asked myself: given all that I know today, what would I say to my younger self if she was present with me in this room?
I would say this:
Learn to love yourself from the inside-out because, inevitably, the outside package will change. Focus on developing a beautiful mind.
Education and higher learning is my top value. It hasn’t always been, but most certainly since my late twenties after an accident changed my life. As I am presently in the midst of writing final exams for a wine specialist course that I am taking out of personal interest, today I asked myself why I put myself through the stress of studying. And as I gaze in the mirror, looking backward, and forward, now I remember why.
And so, I continue my journey of developing a beautiful mind.
