While each “Once Upon a Time” is thought-provoking, as I ponder through the question, a part of me feels this statement that is misplaced. This “once upon a time” is less about not being who I thought I was and more about not being the person I thought I’d be.
What do I mean by this? Coming from a model of parents who were married as teenagers and remain married and are about to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary, I thought my path would be similar during my teen years. I would probably be that guy who would have met the woman of my dreams in college, got married, and spent a lifetime building one together; however, life didn’t work out that way. Even if I met my “Wow,” today, to match my parents, I’d have to live some 120 years. The stranding record in my family is 103. I did, however, have the benefit, arguably the privilege, of experiencing the love of two women who each traveled this road of life with me for a good decade before moving on to follow their respective paths.
So one of the overall visions of me not being who I thought I was or, again more appropriately, who I thought I would be and how I would walk in this world not as a “walk alone,” but as a unit of two.
Infinity Gauntlet Illustration — Shutterstock.com
So now I’m more in this Thanos state, walking through my garden reflecting on my mission. But without all the carnage and destruction. I am on a mission to enhance life through abundance and addition versus scarcity thinking and subtraction.
So my takeaway for this, once upon a time, for this essay has less to do about realizing I’m not the person I thought I was but rather who I thought I would be.
But the upside of this is my final page hasn’t been written; my journey continues. While I may not be the person I thought I would be; the opportunities to be who I want to be in the future is still within my grasp; I savor this possibility every day.
Transformative Metamorphosis — Shutterstock.com
I don’t know what the future holds for the rest of my “dash,” but I know I will control those parts I can. As for those random inevitable parts that I can’t control, I’ll do what I’ve done for the better part of the last half-century and take them as they come. I’ll let them bend and reshape me but not break me.
More importantly, enjoy the beautiful ones, and learn from the ones that will be taxing and soul-crushing. To grow from them to be the [Hu]man that I will be from my First Renaissance through my Second Renaissance (1977-2021) to my sunset (unknown) — that is, living in the present because it truly is a gift.
Essay 9 of 25 — 08.06.2022
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Shutterstock.com