Imagine that you’re in a room.
You have limited time in this room. But you don’t know how long.
On the shelves are thousands of things to try. You can try bubble baths or sky diving. Chocolate martinis or heartache. A long career, a stint as a street performer, college, travel, acrobatics, kids, mountain climbing, art, accounting…
At some point, things start disappearing from the shelves.
Kids cease to be an option… as do acrobatics. A long career might not fit in the time you have left. But other options always remain. Like taking up watercolor.
It doesn’t matter what you do with your time in this room. What matters is that you try lots of things. And that you remember to love the time you have.
Bonnie, here. You could say I’m a bit of a late-bloomer.
I’m nearing 40, yet I still want to have kids. I just bought my first house. And something in me always screams: “Don’t stop being a kid! Don’t stop traveling… exploring… being curious and doing things that make you laugh!”
We all go about finding our happiness in different ways, and that’s ok. I haven’t had kids, but I’ve lived abroad and integrated into other cultures. I’ve never been married, but I’ve taken photos, met fascinating people, and sampled the food in over 40 countries. I moved from a house on the Pacific Ocean… to one in the Oregon desert. I’ve climbed mountains, run a marathon, and completed my first triathlon this year! And all of that feels amazing.
In the end, you just need to make your own happiness, regardless of what society says you’re “supposed” to do. Which is why I started the Breakfast Stock Club back in 2011.
Because, no matter where you are in life—married or divorced, retired or launching a new business… in the midst of raising kids or wandering the world as a lone wolf—many of us share this drive to explore, create, and basically live our best lives!
So, I built this community where we could share our successes and failures… tips on what to do better… and get advice from the pros to point us in the right direction, so we can sell our photos and continue down our paths, whatever they may be, with a little extra income and thrill for life.
After all, selling photos is still one of my favorite thrills (right behind eating chocolate in France).
I hope you’re out there planning for great things in the coming year—whatever they may be!