Reinvent Yourself
Whenever I see a post on social media asking "What advice would you give your younger self?" I always reply, "Be prepared to reinvent yourself."
So often, especially when we're young, we're expected to settle on a singlular path – a career, a mate – and stick with it our entire lifetime. Making the "correct" choice is supposed to be the link between success and failure, between happiness and misery, joy and sadness.
Maybe this is true for some people. They find that one career – or one mate – and are blissfully happy growing together. I confess – it sounds really nice. Especially to me who has changed my life more times than most people change shampoo.
So maybe there are some people who don't need to heed this advice. They can just "stay the course" and reach their destination.
For the rest of us, we are likely to encounter changes. Some of which are self-inflicted, by making choices that lead us in a different direction and some are thrown at us from an undefinable source. Instead of a straight path, we zig and zag on our way, often going south when we've been facing north. Health problems, marital issues, career crises all can blow us off toward a new horizon. In these cases, the ability to reinvent yourself is invaluable.
I've reinvented my self immeasurable times. I reinvented myself my getting rid of just about everything I have and moving 1600 miles away to a place I hadn't even visited in 19 years where I knew no one. Now I may have to move and reinvent myself again. As the song goes, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em."
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