Yesterday was a little Christmas get-to-gether for my family, something I looked forward to immensely. While we see each other once in a while, and talk on the phone a little more often, we only get together as a group once a year or so.
It was fun to interact and catch up on life in general.
We as 'kids' are fairly close in age, and all around the magic '50' mark... it's time to sort out priorities and make choices that will take us into retirement (or not). Our kids are all grown and it is an exciting time for all of four of us and our families.
As we chatted it struck me how much the same we all are and yet so very, very different.
We are all dream chasers and do it with a huge passion! But our dreams are so very different. My younger brother lives the safe life... he has just paid off his mortgage and works as little as he can. My older brother lives very large, has huge dreams and is able to pull them off with ease. My sister lives very conservatively and is just plain old content. I love to work hard, taking the path of my choosing, but never the easy or conventional way.
While one is upsizing, the other is downsizing, one taking on more responsibility, the other is slowing down. One is self employed, the other likes a steady day job, working for someone else. One likes a big new car, the other likes to drive a beater they can work on constantly. We all do what gives us satisfaction.
All of us are living the dreams of our own choice and making. While each of us could not live like the other, we respect the other's path and are genuinely happy for that person.
This year's gathering of the clan made me a little wiser and little more content with who I am and what I do. After all, I AM living MY dream while they live theirs!
