As I walked into the Doubletree Hotel in Binghamton, NY to
speak to an audience of retiring educators, a woman in the lobby caught my eye.
From my perspective, her smile and expression conveyed this message: “There’s
our next speaker. It must be cool to be her.” Of course, I have no idea what
she was thinking, but I know I felt great in my speaker role.
Most of my life I’ve had an unexplainable feeling that I’m
supposed to be creating, speaking, and making a difference in my own unique
way. I didn’t know how this would play out, but I knew I cared about people who
stay in jobs long after they have the option to retire, not because they don’t
want to leave but because they don’t know where to go.
And so, I responded to that little voice that said I had something
more to give than remain in a college administrator role. I knew I had options.
I just needed the courage to exercise those options. It was more comfortable to
stay. But as researcher and author, Brene Brown says, “We can choose courage or
we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not as the same time.” I chose
courage.
Bob Goff, author of Love Does and Everybody
Always, says, “With the urgency of a rock in your shoe, act on the ache you
feel when you see someone else living out the story you always wanted—the story
you were made to live.”
If I saw a professional woman walking into the hotel as our
next speaker, I know I would want to be her. Sometimes this is how we figure
out what we want to do in retirement. We pay attention to what grabs our attention.
If you see someone living out the story you believe you were made to live, then
choose courage and go after that life.
Copyright 2020. Patrice Jenkins. All rights reserved.
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