Last Updated on September 22, 2022
Broadcasting legend Jane Pauley spoke with Growing Bolder about how she created her own “What’s Next.”
I waited for the phone to ring. It always had. It didn’t. I knew I wasn’t retired. I was 54 and I expected to do more. I didn’t know what. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this but it took four years of poking around. I wasn’t just sitting on my sofa watching the Home Shopping Network. I was really working the problem. It took getting up and doing something that eventually led to something else.
At some point in our life, we all have to get off the couch and make things happen. Frankly, that’s not easy for me. I’m not a person who lives the message I espouse. I’m not an adventure seeker. I’m not the most curious person you know. But we can’t give up because it’s a different world today than it was decades ago.
Middle age is defined as no longer young but not yet old. Getting older is not the same as getting old. So, we have to recalibrate how we define middle age and how we act. We need imagination, courage, and the initiative to stay active, engaged, and productive. There’s no one definition to what that means. It just means we have opportunities that our parents and grandparents didn’t have at our age, and I don’t want to squander mine.
The key is to take that first step because it can lead somewhere we couldn’t imagine. It might be volunteering or joining a club. Little things can introduce us to big opportunities that we could never have imagined.
Inspiration is everywhere but you have to be looking. I think that’s all it really takes. If you’ve got your antennae up, you’ll be available for an opportunity you might not have noticed before.
This article is featured in the September 2022 issue of The Growing Bolder Digital Digest.
