At 35, I think I’ve finally earned the right to call myself a “grown-up.” At least it’s taken me this long to feel like one. And there are days I still have my doubts.
I spent my 20′s trying to figure out what success really meant to me… how it looked, how it felt, what I should be doing when. Oh, the dreaded success deadline. I was always in a rush, feeling like I needed to accomplish certain things in a certain time frame.
Six years ago, I left the race behind. I walked out the doors of my job, determined to redefine myself and my career. Since then my professional life has been a crooked path… I became a certified personal fitness trainer, I started a marketing business, I became a certified life coach.
Sometimes I hear my inner critic (who looks a lot like a corporate executive, squinting at my resume with a cocked eyebrow) saying, “Wow, you sure have done a lot of different things. It looks like you can’t make up your mind.” But I know that’s only half the story.
Here’s the other half, the part I’m finally ready to claim, proudly: I’ve learned so many valuable things along the way. I have met amazing people. I have done things I never imagined I’d be able to do (like run my own business and do the taxes!) Each time I did something new, I gave it my all. And each time, I arrived at a crossroads– a resting place where I felt compelled to evaluate my motives and reassess what I truly wanted out of life. Over time, as I continued to “grow up”, I found that it was becoming easier to make authentic choices, choices that reflected the real reasons I left my career six years ago.
I appreciate this quote from author Anne Lamott, “You have to make mistakes to find out who you aren’t. You take the action, and the insight follows: You don’t think your way into becoming yourself.”
On this Not So SuperMomday, I encourage you to “Write Your Own Story. Define Your Own Success.” Click here to read my post over at Hybrid Mom and learn what I have in store for readers.
angiemizzell 
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This article hits home, thank you for sharing it… I have been re-directing my life as well…not nearly as far along as you, just about 6 months into it…but it is funny how life has a way of changing the paths we are on…a path that was once “where we thought our success was” and “no-one nor anything” could have told me any different…Thought I knew exactly what my future held…was perfectly content!!! Then when “Life” happens, amazing how that path can be re-directed….we can only remember yesterday, hope for tomarrow and take each day as a lesson learned…cross roads are just a part of the journey
I love this post and want to thank you so much for sharing the quote from Ann Lamont as well. Finally, a definition of my life path — through consistently finding out who I’m NOT it’s becoming a lot clearer who I AM. And gosh darn it all…I think I might like that woman I see in the mirror!! And truly, if we weren’t always in the process of becoming…something –a good mother, a grown-up, a writer — where would the excitement be? Thanks for a great post as always Angie!
Another great post, Angie! I love your outlook on life, even when things are “super.”
I think we’re all a work in progress, and part of the excitement in life is trying out new ways of being and doing.
Angie, I love this and your other posts… could you drop by my blog at http://actingbalanced.blogspot.com because I’ve left a little surprise there for you!
There’s nothing like life experiences to help us define who we are and who we are not. We can’t know, if we don’t try. The greatest success comes with following our hearts, and the satisfaction that brings