Past efforts have gotten you this far, keep going

Good afternoon, Gladys, Sometimes I catch myself feeling that life has cheated me out of a good life. I am almost 55 years old and I spent my life working at low paying jobs in order to feed and care for my children. I would love to be in my own business. But, I have reached a point in my life where I feel like it's too late for me to start something new. Am I off base to think that it's possible to start anything new at this stage in life? -- A.B.

I sometimes tell people that I can imagine how Moses must have felt when he got the divine notification that he would not be retiring anytime soon. For 40 years, Moses was a shepherd and I doubt if he had any vision of leading anything but his passive sheep.

Just when he thought he had done his thing and that life was moving toward an end, God called and told him that the 40 years he had spent with sheep was just a beginning. Now it was time for the real work to begin and his real job was to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land.

I sometimes feel that way about my own life.

I spent years operating my travel company and just when I thought that successfully owning the company for many years was as good as it would get, other opportunities showed up. Today I'm writing both fiction and non-fiction, I own a successful business development company, and I do lectures and seminars around the country.

Those years that I spent in the travel industry helped prepare me for this time in my life. And yet I somehow feel that as life moves on, more opportunities with show up.

I once met a woman who in her mid 50s returned to school and after many long and hard hours finally got her degree in fine arts and has moved to Hollywood in search of both a screenwriting and acting career.

I remember being very impressed with this woman's goals and dreams. I see a lot of movies, and most of the older actresses have been acting since their youth. I asked her if she felt intimidated by getting such a late start. She responded by saying ! that she had done a great job in raising her children and making certain that they all had gotten a good education and now it was her turn and that she believed all her goals would happen.

Not once did she hint at being too old or display feelings of having been cheated by life.

We each have our own ideas of success. If you managed to find work that paid well enough for you to take care of your children I would consider that successful. So what you are in search of now is to extend that success. Only this time, it will be more for you.

Life does not cheat us nearly as badly as we can cheat ourselves. Count your blessings that you had what it took to meet the challenges in your early life. Think of the life you have lived so far as a prelude to help you with this part of your current life.

Get a new attitude! And realize that you are moving into a new phase of life that can be quite rewarding. And make a point to dream big and hold great visions and do something each day, no matter how small, that will move you toward those dreams.

Who knows? You just might be an emerging shepherd.

Gladys Edmunds, founder of Edmunds Travel Consultants in Pittsburgh, is an author and coach/consultant in business development. E-mail her at gladys@gladysedmunds.com