Tag: smiling

Last week I experienced another major life shift. Unlike nine years ago, I felt the shift and didn’t panic. I felt it and actually smiled.

You see, when I turned 40, my life began to change. Actually.. it began to unravel. I can even tell you when the shift happened. It was on my 40th birthday. I was disappointed because my birthday was not what I had always imagined– wasn’t even close. I know it sounds shallow but it was a big deal, a very big deal. Honestly, I tried to convince myself that I could live with the disappointment, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was a life of being asked to be content with disappointments. This prompted me to ask myself, “Shaun, where do you see yourself in ten years?”. I also asked my ex the same. Well.. guess what?! We are both exactly where we said we saw ourselves being. Hmm… life is interesting.

I didn’t see it then, but I see it now, that was when my marriage actually ended.

So that was a major shift.

Well, last week, after returning home, I felt another shift. I thought I was returning home to the babies I had left. Yeah.. I know, they are not babies but they will always be my babies. Anyhoo.. I returned home to two young adults. Adults who had been doing their own thing while I was gone. I’m not going to lie, it took me a minute to adjust to the change, but only a minute. When I finally accepted that things had changed, I was like, “I like this.”

Listen, I’m smiling as I write because I spent the last year wondering how I would survive being an empty nester. Wondering what life would be like with only myself to care for. Well, I can happily and confidently say, I’m gonna be alright. I’m so looking forward to this next chapter.

Thanks for reading! Wishing you a wonderful day.

Shaun