Way back in 2010, when I first read
Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, I seized on the concept of Rules
of Adulthood. At that time, mine included:
- There is time enough
- Live joyfully
- Be Kathy
- Put on your big girl panties and deal with it
- Pause before you say no
- It is what it is
- Rise to the occasion
- I am enough
- Slow down—faster isn’t better
- Progress, not perfection
- Help is everywhere
- What would I do if I wasn’t scared?
There’s been a lot of figurative
water under the bridge since then, including my turning 50—howisthatevenpossible?
Now that I’m, ahem, so mature, I've been toying with the idea of
revising my Rules of Adulthood for my new stage of life
(midlife-no-kids-at-home-but-not-quite-retired).
One of the issues I commonly deal
with now is worry about the future. As I get older, I see my parents and
in-laws aging and coping with various physical and emotional challenges. I
worry about losing my husband. About becoming ill myself. After Scout’s death
hit me hard, I worry about losing Tank, Prudy, and Luna, knowing that there's
no guarantee they will live the long life Scout did.
Milestones keep coming, but they’re
not fun ones like college, marriage, and starting a family. More like
colonoscopies, bereavement, and loss of physical vitality!
Wait, where was I?
Oh, yes, Rules of Adulthood. To
combat these worries, I some additions to my original Rules of Adulthood:
- Everything is figure-out-able (courtesy of Marie Forleo). Instead of stressing about what might (or might not) be ahead, believe that I’ll be able to figure it all out when the time comes.
- Life is not a competition.
- Be easy with yourself. After all these years, trust that you are a good and decent person, even when you make mistakes. (See next rule.)
- Everyone is doing the best they can--including you.
- Quality, not perfection. Perfection is unattainable, but you’re almost always able to live and work with quality.
- See the funny side. Because laughing is better than crying. Usually.
- Don’t immediately label things that happen to you as “good” or “bad”
It’s good to review the way we
think from time to time. As we age, ideally we’re becoming wiser, kinder
people. As we experience more, we learn to see other peoples’ points of view.
Maybe we soften, maybe we grow stronger. Life is a work in progress, and though
change is sometimes scary and hard, sometimes it’s just what we need.
Do you have Rules of Adulthood you live by? Please share in the comments!
