Generally speaking, peeling potatoes is not a task you would equate with moments of complete clarity. However, who is to say when those utterly crisp clear moments are going to come and smack you right upside the head?
On a recent Sunday, I was peeling 10 pounds of potatoes for a family get together. A pretty mundane, dull task. You know the ones….where our brain goes into the equivalent of your computer's sleep mode. Everything is operating, but nothing is calculating.
So here I am peeling away, relaxed enough not to be thinking anything, but awake enough not to peel my finger, and I look down under my peelings to my peelings catcher (blanket of old newspapers) and see the title of an obituary.
"Jane Doe at the age of 64 lost her battle to pancreatic cancer after a long and heroic fight"
Jane Doe died at 64.
Wow, how sad, how tragic……but 64, that's a decent life right?
My brain immediately kicked out of sleep mode and began calculating and evaluating. It’s like a light came on. Everything was clear.
If I were to die at 64, would I be happy with my life? Would I have achieved everything I wanted? Would I be satisfied that I did my best?
Some things in my life I wasn’t perfect at, but I felt I did my best. And I could die knowing I gave it my all. Those areas were easy to see with utter clarity.
The panic and unease however sat in as I thought of my career. Was I happy? I can’t retire until I’m 60, and I would die at 64. Four years of owning my own life, determining what I would do and when I would do it without having to ask for permission if it fell during office hours. Would that be enough?
It’s almost like I couldn’t get a full breath. Would I be happy working Monday-Friday in an office chair for the next 25 years? I get 3 weeks of vacation a year which is good, but is that enough? Am I happy with seeking approval before I plan a trip anywhere? Will I be happy for 25 years asking permission to have the day off every time a child is sick? Do I love my job enough to do this 25 years?
That’s when….
It got REAL….because I knew the answers.
We all have those moments of clarity. What we do with them can be pivotal. For me, I am choosing to take the risk. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won’t. But after acknowledging my truth, I couldn’t just blame anyone for how my life turns out. I have a choice. And I choose action. I choose entrepreneurship.
What do you do after your moments of clarity?