Faded Jeans Living

Ramblings

From my 58 years of experience, I’ve found that some of the most valuable life lessons and philosophies don’t come from textbooks but from the Old School of Hard Knocks. While others might gain wisdom from the pages of a book, I’ve often rush headlong into action, fail quickly, and learn accordingly. It’s not that one approach is better than the other; in fact, I’ve come to appreciate the insights I get from books nowadays.

We’ve all heard it before: “It’s okay, you’re human. We all make mistakes and learn from them.” Sure, I get that, but here’s the real question—do we actually change anything based on what we learn? More often than not, I’ve found for myself the answer to be no. If you were to compare my journal entries from three years ago with those I’ve written recently, you’d see the same frustrations and complaints cropping up again and again. Nothing has changed.

So why don’t I change?

• It would take too much effort.
• It’s frickin’ scary—no way.
• It would require a complete overhaul of my life.
• I don’t have the time to work on this.
• I don’t have the money it would take.
• It’s more comfortable to stay on my lily pad, even if it’s in a stagnant pond.
• Blah, blah, blah…

That’s a glimpse into my thought process as life continues to tick by. As you know, I’m big on contemplating mortality and viewing life through that lens. I know it makes some people uncomfortable; they get defensive about how they’ve lived. But I’m here to tell you, being 100% transparent, that I do have regrets. If you don’t, great for you.

Anyway, back to the point of this blog. I know what to do from all these human experiences, but will I actually make a change despite all the excuses I listed above? I KNOW that I can start facing forward and take one very small step toward change today and continue that process. I also know that my soul is saying YES to this.

How about you? What would your 90-year-old self say about you making a change you’re contemplating?

Peace,

Dwight 🦋