Last week I was sitting on the runway at SeaTac waiting to depart. It was a smaller plane with only 19 rows. Half the passengers were members of a teen swim team. It warmed my heart to see their fresh young faces seemingly carefree and full of youthful optimism.

Seems like only yesterday…

I was that age 40 years ago; it feels like yesterday. The future was an unknown. I didn’t know what or how, but I assumed my future was bright and so was the light within me.

And then life unfolds…

As the years and decades past, the light progressively faded until it was all but gone. I noticed its absence but could not imagine a feasible path to its return.

The spark within

I started going inward to search for the spark. One day I stumbled upon it and in the days and weeks and months that followed, I gave my inner voice a platform to speak and instead of shutting it down with all the reasons its notions were preposterous, I listened. The more I tuned in to listen, the brighter the spark became.

Imagine possibilities, not obstacles

As life’s events and stressors weigh us down, we stop imagining what’s possible and even worse, we start imagining the worst and the practice of doing that day in and day out, year after year, decade after decade will snuff out the light, the joy, the life in our lives.

It’s never too late!

If this resonates with you, don’t fret. The spark of light and life within us all may go dormant, but it never leaves us. We can tune in to our inner voices, act on what they have to say and return the light within to its fullest and brightest glory.

Every day, I am imagining and creating a life that is in alignment with my true self. No more limiting narratives; 57 and full of youthful optimism.