What are you going to do now?
Graduation season is upon us and with it comes the time honored tradition of asking our graduates the following question:
What are you going to do now?
Perhaps you chuckle as you think back to how you answered this question yourself and just how differently your life has played out since then.
(I think I personally had my eyes on being a sports agent and driving a Lexus IS300 – so basically I was going to be Jerry Magiure 🙂)
When we are young, it remains a question we continue to ask ourselves with regularity in an effort to find our way in the world.
What are you going to do now?
But then, somewhere along the way as our time becomes more scarce, we often stop asking ourselves this question. We become too busy doing all of the things that adulting requires of us to find the time, effort, and energy to make sure all of the things we’re doing are actually what we still want to be doing.
That is until we hit the mid-life crisis.
Suddenly, the question returns with a burning intensity…
What are you going to do now?
But at this life stage, we can often feel trapped. Trapped by the creature comforts we’ve acquired, the commitments we’ve made, and a sense of responsibility to continue showing up in the world as the person everyone expects us to be.
The stakes are higher and the changes can be harder to justify the further along we find ourselves in life’s journey. And yet, that doesn’t mean we should ignore how our answer to the question might have changed.
What are you going to do now?
The answer is rarely found in buying sports cars or lake houses or in acquiring other material possessions in hopes that we’ll feel better. These are often just attempts to fill the hole that question can create when we choose to ignore it for too long.
The true answer to this question begins with seeing it again as an opportunity, not a burden.
An opportunity to place your values and relationships at the top of your priority list. An opportunity to make sure your financial resources are aligned to serve your values and relationships, not limit or compromise them.
An opportunity to become who we are rather than trying – and failing – to remain who we used to be.
So again, I ask…
What are you going to do now?
As Winston Churchill once said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.