If you were brought up by a family that told you to “graduate, get a job, and make enough money to pay the bills,” it’s likely they wouldn’t be a fan of you leaving a job you don’t love to pursue one that you do. It’s also very likely that those family members, even some friends, will dissuade you from doing something so crazy. But is it really crazy? Is starting your life over somewhere in the middle wrong?
The answer is NO.
Second acts, even third acts, aren’t unusual. Nor should they be. Second acts come after our gut tells us a million times that change is imminent. They come after we dream for a long time. They come in our daydreams and our night dreams and they never stop until we do.
Multipotentialite writer and career coach Emilie Wapnick hit us over the head with this truth the day she did a TedX talk that outlined the reasons we don’t have one true calling. We are taught that we should choose one profession from the day we are born. We are given doctor kits and shiny red fire engines and told to dream about that “one thing.”
And so we Dream.
But then we grow older and that one thing becomes two. Or three. Or four. We begin to panic, thinking something is wrong with us because we want more than one thing. Our friends tell us it’s wrong. Our family tells us it’s wrong. We grow older and more restless, dreaming of thing three and four, all the while thinking we’re some sort of alien because we secretly want other things for us. We want to explore and play. We want to travel and learn a new language. We want more.
This is the part where I encourage you to go after more. Not because it goes against the grain of everything you’ve ever learned, but because it’s what is calling to you. Your gut is screaming at you to go back to school or to write that book. It’s clenching at your throat, begging you to travel the world and explore the ruins and caves in Egypt. It’s telling you to go, go, go.
None of this is Wrong. All of it is right. It’s time for your second act. The curtain is closed right now and the audience is waiting. It doesn’t matter if they like your second act or not. All that matter is that you do. So open the curtain and begin.
If you were ever wondering what the secret of life was, you just discovered it.
Joleene Moody is a PositivityGuides writer
See also:
Be more daring, there’s nothing to lose
Dare to be body positive
How to find your purpose in life