LIKE MANY PEOPLE, TURNING 50 WAS A PIVOTAL MILESTONE FOR ME. 

I’m at my core a task-oriented person and checking things off a list is one of my favorite things.  Being introspective about the past, present, or future is one of my least favorite things.  But my 50^th birthday brought out my rare contemplative side.  In my late 20’s I decided to take one year away from work and travel around the world.  It was an exciting year, but what it triggered much later in my life was unexpected and completely changed my life.

Here's a little backstory:  I loved my 20’s.  I graduated college in NC and moved to the ‘big city’ of Boston.  I accumulated a varied group of smart friends, became involved in social issues and was starting to earn some money.  It was from this place of joy and total self-love that I decided to fulfill a childhood dream of taking a year off and circumventing the world.  It was heady stuff. 

I don’t remember how it happened but when I returned from my trip and began doing all the things I was expected to do, I slowly began to lose myself. 

I moved from Boston back to North Carolina, got a job and began building a career.  I married my high school sweetheart, and we had two daughters (another childhood dream).  Life as a full-time employed mother is work, on top of work, on top of work.  My job was demanding.  I regularly worked 50 to 60 hours per week – which usually involved my daughters with me at the office on Saturdays.  I was volunteering in their schools.  I was designated chauffeur to ballet lessons, basketball practices and games, play dates with friends and the myriad of places kids needed and wanted to go.  Then there were the household responsibilities: shopping, cooking, even some cleaning here and there.  Yes, I had a husband, but he battled addiction issues and staying employed was struggle enough. 

My 30s chugged along in this state of perpetual busyness. 

I powered thru my 40s.  And my daughters aged with me. 

Suddenly I was 50 years old with 17- and 13-year-old daughters.  My dreams of showing them the world seemed very far away.  Truthfully, I didn’t even remember that I still harbored these dreams. 

Then, one moment changed everything.  I call this my ‘Buy the Ticket’ moment.  I was in my beloved mini-van driving home from ballet and had just exited off the beltway towards home.  My oldest daughter asked me to tell, again, one of my favorite stories from my trip around the world. As I was re-telling this story, I realized that I was sharing travel adventures with them that were over 20 years old. 

I was devastated by this awareness.

Even while I was on my yearlong adventure, I knew that ‘someday’ I would be sharing travel adventures with my future children by my side.  But here I was, 50 years old and I didn’t even have a valid passport.  I was moving past being upset and verging on angry.  And I really do not like to be angry.  But this anger was motivating.  It prompted me into action.  It was the jolt I needed.

That night I impulsively bought three tickets to Belize.  I didn’t know much about Belize, but it was the most affordable ticket I could find to a location I considered exotic.  I couldn’t believe it.  We didn’t have a lot of money and I had just shelled out $1,800 for airline tickets.

It was the smartest decision I had made in years, and it changed the trajectory of my life.

The trip was amazing.  I ziplined (and was surprisingly terrible at it).  I hiked straight up the side of a mountain and then repelled 300 feet down into a ‘black hole’.  I walked through neck deep water in a dark cave to explore ancient Mayan artifacts.  I failed at getting recertified in SCUBA (something to work on).  Sharing these experiences with my daughters was a gift and not surprisingly altered how I looked at my future. 

In hindsight, it was not the trip itself that was the life-changing moment for me.  My life changed the day I bought the airline tickets.  From that moment, that impulsive ‘submit payment’ moment, I began the journey to finding myself. 

The years from that moment to now have been an amazing journey into the world of introspection and personal development that had previously been unknown to me.  It wasn’t just that I wasn’t interested in this world, I didn’t even know it existed. 

Since buying those airline tickets, I’ve experienced the death of my husband, birth of my granddaughters, increasing business (financial!) success, numerous passport stamps and a burgeoning appreciation of introspection.  Change is hard.  Changing the direction of your life is hard, scary and can be painful.  Having the right tools and a community of smart, supportive women to help the process is invaluable. 

My quest to create and live my most incredible, purposeful life is never going to end.  And it doesn’t focus on a list I feel compelled to check off to be successful.  How I want to live my personal life and the mission I carry into my businesses are intricately intertwined.  That connection has allowed me to start, grow and show up as authentically as possible in several businesses… and to persevere when times get tough.

I don’t always have a clear idea about where I’m going or where I’ll end up.  And I'm OK with that. 

I just have to be brave enough to Buy the Ticket.

Mimi