By Marge Pickering-Picone

Hopes and dreams come in all sizes and shapes. You can journal and make collage boards of all the “things” you want in your life but you still have to have the major ingredient of action to make them reality. If changing the geographic location of where you live seems too major, start with making where you are now more livable.

Are you still keeping those bedrooms intact for the children to come home? Get up and clear the room. Turn it into your private space. Take out the easel and the paints and throw down a tarp and begin to let the air out of this mid life crisis. Color it any color you want. Frame and put your own paintings, drawings or creations on the walls. There is no one to criticize you. Actually, most of your friends will either be jealous or copy your every move.

If you have been drooling over the upgrades of homes in magazines or on the cable channels, you don’t need to keep waiting. Have garage sales and give the children their favorite memory items and go out browsing and shopping until just the right item catches your eye. All the wonderful, cheerful colors available to tempt you and delight you in your decorating adventures are waiting to share your space. Friends ooh and ah over your newly found inner expression and can’t wait to see what’s next.

If white carpeting or purple walls have always intrigued you then I would say, “go for it”. What are you waiting for?

The generation before us hung onto everything. We spent a lot of years incorporating the family’s hand me downs (even if we really didn’t like them) with a blend of our own choices. We sometimes landed very near our family of origin. Sometimes in the same neighborhoods. The generation we raised does not stick around. A majority of them move to other states and countries. It becomes too expensive to take used articles with them especially when they prefer new personally chosen items. Thus we fill our attics, basements and garages with all the things just in case someday they might want them. More for the garage sale and or the Good Will. Remember that one person’s trash is another’s treasure. Make room and lighten your life. The accumulation is out of control and it is a heavy burden to carry. Once it’s gone, you won’t even remember you had it or it will become a memory that brings a smile. It’s your space to have, hold and to do with whatever you want. So, let some of the accumulation go and move in something that makes you enjoy life more.

How much older do you think you need to be before you have what you want?

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