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When I Grow Up
by Jessica McCurdy Crooks
Liv Fun: Vol 6 – Issue 3
She twirls away on pointy toes, straining to make the perfect pirouette, with dreams of one day being a famous ballet dancer. She makes a mental note to center her weight, pushing her leg forward for the perfect passé. Making a circle with her arms, she starts the spin. It seems impossible at first. But as stumbles become graceful turns, she imagines herself taller, more elegant, doing this same move not in her ballet class mirror, but in front of a large audience.
These dreams and visions of our future are an important part of growing and learning. And, like so much else, they tend to change during the different phases of our lives. It is important to have a roadmap of how we want our lives to progress, but we also need to bear in mind that roadblocks will occur along the way.
Self-described author, thinker and life enthusiast Mark Manson has described four distinct stages in a human life. Those stages, starting in childhood and continuing through our final years, have a huge impact on how we approach our life and what we choose to do with it, including how we pursue our dreams and live our mission. (Manson, 2015)
In Stage One, we prepare for the world by watching and mimicking what we see around us. By copying what we see, we learn how to function within society so that we can be autonomous, self-sufficient adults. At this stage, our dreams are largely based on those we imitate.
As young adults, we move into Stage Two, a time of self-discovery rather than mimicry. We strike out on our own, making decisions about education and career training that will either help us to fulfill the dreams of childhood or force us to rethink them as we discover our limits.
Liv Fun
by Leisure Care
Autumn 2017
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When I Grow Up
by Jessica McCurdy CrooksDreams and visions of our future are an important part of growing and learning. And, like so much else, they tend to change during the different phases of our lives. It is important to have a roadmap of how we want our lives to progress, but we also need to bear in mind that roadblocks will occur along the way.
From My Pocket a Pebble
by Pam Mandel
The headstones here sing of wealth and pride, some of them are family sanctuaries, the black granite stamped deep with names of families that are gone now. There is no one here to clear the vines away, to place the pebble that signifies a visit. The deer bolt, and I go back to reading the names out loud.
On Our Best Days
by Nancy Gertz
Is being happy the holy grail of human experience? Many of our spiritual traditions suggest that we are more likely to thrive when we live meaningful lives; happiness shows up in sparks and memorable moments, but it isn’t a steady state or something we can attain and sustain. In fact, modern researchers tell us that actively searching for happiness decreases our chances of actually achieving it.