Motivational Monday: Deferred Dreams

What happens to a dream deferred?

(Langston Hughes)

Does it dry up 

like a raisin in the sun? 

Or fester like a sore-- 

And then run? 

Does it stink like rotten meat? 

Or crust and sugar over-- 

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags 

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Over time, I've noticed that there is considerable societal and personal pressure to accomplish goals by a certain age - and that age limit becomes younger over time. I became aware of the pressure to succeed at a particularly young age as my father was the youngest school principal in the city at that time. Lists like "The Most Influential ____ under 35/40" and "CEOs under 30/40" are further proof of this unrelenting pressure to "succeed" (whatever that means). And those are just the professional pressures. On top of that, there are the expectations surrounding when one should marry, when to have children, etc. It can all make one feel old before their time. And when we feel "too old" to do something, the negative self-talk begins, with self-fulfilling prophecies not too far behind.

I'm too old to do that now

Maybe I sh/could have in my twenties

"Youth is wasted on the young."

And then there are the negative comments from others.

You're not getting any younger

You are too old to {fill in the blank}

These are all comments I've heard from people under 40 (myself included)! There are far too many people feeling like failures who may very well have 40+ years of life ahead of them to accomplish their personal goals, and I find that mentality depressing. So, what do you do when you haven't accomplished that goal you wanted to reach by the age of 30?

Give up on life because of our youth obsessed culture when you have more years ahead of you? And, while I'm on the subject, what is youth? At what age do you cease to be young and become "young at heart"? What is "success"? What is "failure"? How do we define these things? How does society define these things for us? At what point do you say enough is enough and refuse to be defined by the limitations set forth by others? I pose these questions because I often struggle to answer them myself, and I know I'm not alone.

At least there is one lady out there in the world who refused to be limited or defined by what society expects of someone her age. Meet Paddy, a former dancer who returned to her craft as a senior. Judges laughed and yawned when she got on stage. Audience members rolled their eyes. Their initial reactions were based on what they thought a 79-year-old woman could or could not accomplish. It's a good thing Paddy did not think the same way. Had she given in to negative comments or self-talk, we would not have his: