By Felicia, on November 22nd, 2013
I turned 40 this last week. I can tell you it is an age I have been alternately dreading and anticipating; dreading because I feel like I should have experienced more and grown more as a person by the time I reached 40 and excited for what I have accomplished and learned so far.
This quote by Rose Kennedy got me thinking. “Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments.”
Rose Kennedy
I have had some pretty awesome moments in my life. I have also had some pretty hard moments. I am sure we all have and I think that how we deal with both the awesome and hard moments make us who we are today. I have learned in the past 5 to 10 years that my perception of my life, of my moments makes them either awesome or hard. I have also learned that perceptions change and evolve to make moments that once were hard into awesome learning experiences, where I became a better person, a more loyal friend or a better employee.
So, to say I have all of a sudden hit the 40 year old milestone is frankly silly. Being 40 isn’t a milestone, a good reason to have a great party; yes, but a milestone; no. Being 40 is a moment, a moment where I have learned another lesson to gather enough lessons to change my perceptions, that is a milestone.
So much of your circumstance depends on your perceptions. Everything we feel, see or sense is a product of our perceptions. How you view a situation determines the resolution of the situation. What we have a tough time with is the apparent difficulty of shifting long held perceptions that we have held maybe even for our entire lives. I say “apparent” because this too is a perception. It is only difficult because we perceive that it should be.