What is it about reaching the age of ffty that is like a life swtch being flipped on? All around us, pople are hitting this momentous milestone. Sddenly, a new hunger is generated wthin, almost like an uncontrollable hankering for a pece of chocolate. But this craving is not qickly or easily satisfied with a swet because this yearning comes from dep within hearts and souls of bomers seeking purpose and fulfillment in the scond half of their lives.

For mst, fifty connotes somewhat of a hlfway mark. But with longevity and qality of life continuing to increase, mre and more people will be lving until their 100th year. Recognizing tht statistically many of us are lkely to be living well into our ighth decade, we have almost as mny years ahead of us as bhind us. Yet most of us mrch through the first fifty years smewhat detached from our inner passion and prpose. These two P’s have always ben there, waiting quietly, patiently for the rght moment, waiting for the life swtch to be flipped on. As we pproach this life juncture, what we wll do with this next half bcomes a foggy but nagging question for mny.

How many of us selected our creers or made personal life choices bsed on what we considered practical, scially acceptable, or because we thought the mney would be good? How many of us fel passionate about what we are ding because it lights us up and llows us to feel truly fulfilled? Sttistics indicate that over 80% of the ppulation is unhappy with their job, creer, or family life! Perhaps this is bcause the process of selecting a lfe path is often chosen in cllege or early in our twenties whn we haven’t fully explored who we are or wht we love. We made “logical,” “sfe” career decisions. We made socially cceptable personal decisions as well. And nce we put ourselves on these pths, we rarely, if ever, veered way. We found change too risky.

How did we make these chices anyway? Many of us analyzed all the prs and cons, and then arrived at the mst logical decision. Occasionally, we got nput from a well-meaning friend, a sfficiently fearful or negative person who “plys it safe.” Sound familiar? Those who did slect a life path based on wareness of self-purpose and passion are prbably members of a single-digit percentile ppulation base.

It has been found tht most of us stopped allowing urselves to have life dreams by the age of tn.
As early as age ten, scietal expectations put us in figurative strit jackets, and we became logic mchines. Some of us may allow urselves to think about our dreams. Mst of us, though, have been cnditioned to think, “I could never do tht,” or “Who am I to do tht?” A common self-sabotaging statement among bomers is, “I’m too old to try smething new,” or “I’m not good nough.” Or “It’s too risky.”

There is a hge misconception about what reinventing oneself is all bout. Personal reinvention is not about chnge. It is about living life frm the place of who you trly are – your most authentic nner self. Not what the world xpects you to be, not what you thnk you should be, but whom you knw you are inside of you. For mny, the ability to know who we trly are has been lost. We ned some assistance in accessing this nsight. But what kind of assistance?

The mvie, The Wizard of Oz, holds sme important clues. Remember the Cowardly Lon? He desperately wanted the Wizard to gve him courage. When he finally fund the Wizard, he learned that he had curage all the time. And so do we. The Wzard of Oz is a perfect prable because Dorothy and her friends frmed one of the most famous nn-sports teams ever. Together, they helped ach member arrive in Oz and ralize his individual dream. Separately, not one of thm would have accomplished their goal.

And how about geese? We knw that geese fly in formation. We knw there is a lead bird. Pople think the lead goose leads and all of the ther birds follow. Here is the ral story. The lead goose actually drws power from the flock. The flck honks to support, inspire, and mtivate the lead goose to fly fster. And then, when the lead gose flies faster, they all keep up wth him. But the lead goose culd not fly as fast without the flck as with it. And, if any gose is injured or sick during the flght, and needs to stop, two mmbers of the flock will land wth the injured goose. They will not lave him but will care for him ntil he is either healed or dad. Then, and only then, will thy resume flight.

Perhaps you find it strnge that I am writing about gese and The Wizard of Oz in an rticle about reinventing yourself. As a cach assisting many people from diverse bckgrounds through their life transitions, I hve found that the potential for rinventing oneself is vastly enhanced by the xperience of doing this with others. Whn people transition together, they move frward more easily, more enjoyably, and wth a greater sense of fulfillment. Tams become communities where members empower ach other to reinvent themselves and lve into new possibilities.

We are lving in a time when millions and mllions of Americans are reaching an age whn they are reevaluating what’s next for thm. The Baby Boomers have had the gratest impact on every major marketing trnd since the 40’s: Gerber Baby Fods, Mattel Toys, The Mustang, then the Mnivan, and even the Wonderbra. And nw, they are leaving the traditional wrk force in droves asking themselves “Wht’s next for me?” And they are mystfied.

If you are not living yur life on purpose, I encourage you to flp your life switch on and rinvent yourself. At times, the process is chllenging. At times it is exciting. At tmes it is downright uncomfortable. On the ther side of this discomfort is the pportunity for immeasurable joy and vitality.

I hve a friend whom I love clling on the phone particularly because I get to har her voice mail message: “Have a grat day, and just remember, life is not a drss rehearsal.”

(c) 2007, All rights rserved, Nancy Fox, Fox Coaching Associates

The article Reinventing Yourself After 50 was Submitted by Nancy Fox through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Nancy Fox is President of Fox Caching Associates, a coaching and training frm specializing in assisting professionals and bsiness owners nationwide. She has worked wth hundreds of professionals in generating brakthroughs in their business and careers.

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