I'm Gonna Figure It Out!

Both my children are teenagers now. Even though they are only 13 and 15, I am seeing them slowly but surely break away from me. There's a good chance they will both be out of town for Spring Break this year. And they will likely fly to South Florida this summer to visit their Aunt Kitty. On New Year's Eve, the party at my house was not adults. It was my son and his friends. I see an evolution in the way things are going. It is supposed to happen. It is natural. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing or that it makes me sad. I actually love watching all the kids grow and become young men and women.

The point of this is that I am having the realization that in a few years, my kids will be gone. They will be in college. Eventually they will move out. Then what?

My neighbors Sara and Marty-Marr are already planning what they will do. They are almost giddy thinking about trips they will take, and how fun it will be to be like newlyweds again. Another friend of mine, who's daughters have already graduated high school said he and his wife are planning a cruise this summer and can't wait!

Currently, I am having a very hard time envisioning that part of my life. There is no clear cut scenario that I see. The only thing I feel confident about, it that the current situation I am in, is not something I'm fantasizing or dreaming about in the years to come. There has to be a change. There has to be!

I want to spend that time between empty nest and retirement, being happy, healthy, active, and stress free. My friend Puddin recently wrote in her blog that some people don't know how to be happy. I instantly felt I was the person she was referring to, because it's true. I know that I used to be happy. Very happy. I know that I want to be happy, but I'm certainly not sure I know how to be happy.

I know have to make changes. Big ones. I just have to figure out how.