"It's never too late
to be who you might have been."
—George Eliot
Saying that you're too old to do something is a weak excuse. It might take you longer or be more expensive or more difficult at 40 than at 20, but that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't do it. Journalist and entrepreneur Alexis Grant offers some smart advice on how to make a change in her post "Why It's Never Too Late to Create the Life You Want."
I've been thinking about this a lot because a jewelry designer I admire and know (or more correctly, know of, since I'm not sure we've ever met in person) recently decided to go back to school and finish the degree she started before the birth of her son. I know I'm one of many folks who are rooting for her. It's so much easier to complain about the life we have than to make the sometimes hard choices to get our dream life.
"Late bloomers" are all around us. Martha Stewart started her catering business at 40. Julia Child published Mastering the Art of French Cooking at 49. Emmy-winning actress Kathryn Joosten was in her mid-50s when she moved to Hollywood. Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her 60s when she published her Little House on the Prairie series. And then there was this article in the LA Times about a 96-year-old blogger who was on the Amazon bestseller list. Yes, ninety-six!
If you decide not to pursue your dreams, you'll need another excuse. "Too old" doesn't cut it.
Quotation Source: The Quotations Page. There are a number of slight variations of this quote such as "what" instead of "who." While the quote's widely attributed to novelist George Eliot, there's some dispute whether she originated the quote. There's an article by Alex Measday titled "Did George Eliot Write This?" that tries to trace the quote's origin, along with all the variations in wording.