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What is prosperity to a middle aged man?

Guest post by: Roy Derrick

Article Overview: Do you ever feel that life is passing you by without you having achieved your life long goals? If so here is my account of how my goals have changed as i have got older and what I now view as prosperity in life.

What is prosperity to a middle aged man?

I often wonder "when will I actually feel my age?"

I am now what would be considered nearing middle age but the frustrating thing is that I still feel in my twenties.

True, when I look in the mirror my reflection shows a slightly more mature version of myself, what with the small bags under my eyes and the greying hair, but despite this my mind still remains young.

I can remember during my adolescent years my mum saying to me how frustrated she was that her body was ageing but that her mind still felt exactly the same as when she was younger. I can now empathise with her as I now feel the same way myself.

I can still remember school days like yesterday. I can recall all of the events and emotions of that time. Some 1970's tracks I hear on the radio can still take me back instantly to something that was relevant to that song at that time, whether it be a particular event or a memory of a girlfriend from that time. Oh yes it all feels like yesterday and yet I struggle to remember everyday things that I currently need to remember.

Thankfully there are also advantages to getting older- The main one being the wisdom gained along the way. Any mistakes or failures made during that time have helped to strengthen my resolve to go on to succeed. I have become a more confident person and my aspirations have also changed as I have got older to the ones that I had as a younger man.

In my youth I, like many other young people, wanted the usual materialistic things like a nice car, a big house and money in the bank, all of which I was fortunate enough to acquire.

However in order to achieve these things I paid the ultimate sacrifice- namely working too hard and not spending enough time with my family. My oldest children who are now twenty one and seventeen grew up within the blink of an eye. I lost a lot of their childhood years because of striving to accomplish my goals.

I have however been fortunate enough to have two more children who are now aged eight and six. The mistakes of the past have made me wiser this time around and I have learnt to prioritise my time more effectively. I still have ambition and I still strive to succeed but I have modified my goals in order to achieve the most important commodity of all which is time.

Getting older has made me evaluate what true prosperity is in life namely having a healthy balance between family and working life. I still continue to work to live a comfortable lifestyle but I limit my working hours in order to be able to spend time enjoying life with my family and the rewards that brings far outweigh the financial ones.

I have spent over twenty years in business striving to achieve my career goals and to achieve perfect prosperity for myself and my family and now I am finally fortunate enough to have found the right opportunityto succeed. I currently run a business working from home which enables me to balance my family and working life perfectly. I can choose the hours that I want to work and I no longer have to consider other people's needs over that of my family. I am also able to enjoy going to my children's school concerts or enjoy some leisure time with my wife at short notice. This to me is true prosperity.

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Article Tags: business, career goals, prosperity, right opportunity, working from home



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