I’ve had a tremendous amount of anxiety lately.

Watching my kids get older, seeing family get older, just watching the passage of time and feeling like I haven’t been a part of it, but more over, have been sitting on the sidelines watching it all happen. Not being an active participant in my own movie.

How the heck do I have a 13-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son? Wasn’t I just 25 yesterday?!

I often ask myself, am I where I want to be in life?
Am I where I should be?
Are the choices that I’ve made the right ones?

Not that it really matters, because I am here. We are here.

After all, you can’t turn back the clock, that is clear. But I can decide to be a more active participant in my movie. To enjoy the little things and to cherish the time that I have with those that I care about. Make those memories and continue to build on the life that I’ve already created.

Sometimes it takes an extreme situation to “wake up” and realize where you are. To try and slow down the days and the time and really enjoy the moment.

Whatever has happened in the past, good and bad, is in the past. We can’t change that, but how we choose to enjoy the future. We can control how we react to things. Attitude and effort, they say. Not looking for perfection, but we can control those aspects.

Life will not slow down, that’s for sure. So why not jump in and participate as opposed to sitting on the sidelines?

It’s never too late to change the narrative or the storyline.

Time for me to live a little more!

-J.D.