The anxiety that sets in when you discover that you're essentially nearing your third quarter of life, your third act, the other end of the dash, is real.

Everything that you haven't done suddenly becomes the most important medley of procrastinations your life has ever enjoyed. You see things with an amazing clarity that you wish bestowed itself upon you twenty years earlier.

Now, let's see, how much money do I have saved for retirement? Why did I stay at that job so long? How much debt do I really have, not the imaginary amount? Where is my husband? How many eggs do I have left? Wait, do I want kids? If I did, wouldn't I have had them by now? Why don't I have a house, you know, like a grown up? What possessed me to buy a condo when I can't stand a lot of noise? When exactly will I get a book published? Did I even try to send it to an agent? Why do I live here again? How many countries have I traveled to? Why haven't I gotten a passport yet? (I just applied for one.) When is the last time I've been out of the country? (Almost ten years ago when passports weren't required for Mexico and Jamaica.)

This is a bona fide panic attack.

And it's not pretty.

All of your colossal mistakes and forgotten "to-dos" form a coalition together, glaring at you with overwhelming vigor. Your bucket list items, pushing their way past all the other non-essential information, are suddenly at the forefront of your brain demanding your immediate attention.

Relax.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

You must intercept this negative energy from your mental space as it can and will debilitate you. Meditate, exercise, do what you must to stop your head from looking backwards and to keep it facing forward.

Everything is fine. The missteps are valuable, much-needed lessons, and the things that you haven't yet accomplished will still happen at exactly the right moment, that moment when God continues to reveal his plan for you.

Once you realize that it's actually not too late for you to achieve most of your goals, you will find yourself ecstatic at what is about to transform in your life. And you will understand that it's all happening at the perfect time, and that years ago when you thought you were ready for certain things, you really weren't. And you will become giddy with excitement and anticipation about your life's current trajectory. And you will smile about your newfound clarity in life. And you will be thankful for the perfect timing, for the awakening, and most of all, for the blessings that you didn't recognize before as blessings.

#anxiety #procrastination #god #life #goals #blessings