No, You're Not Too Old To Begin Writing

I spent Sunday afternoon at a district meeting of our state organization for writers. During the opening moments of the meeting we told a bit about ourselves and the kind of writing we do for the sake of a new member. One of the women had been at our December meeting but I hadn't learned much about her then so I was pleased to have an opportunity to get to know her better.

She told us she'd done a little writing related to her job a number of years ago and bits and pieces here and there. She would be retiring in a few years and she joined Kansas Authors to see if it might inspire her to begin writing again and perhaps pursue it further in the upcoming years of more freedom and time.

I couldn't help but admire her. Many people who had limited writing experience may have been reticent in joining a group of people who have a longer writing history and write on a regular basis. This woman has hopes of returning to writing. She has a goal and perhaps she is fulfilling a dream, too. She joined in the discussion, asked questions and was definitely a participant, not an observer. I feel quite certain she will attain her goal.

We don't have to jump into the writing world in our twenties or even thirties. It doesn't matter how old we are when we take that leap and pound a keyboard putting words together that we hope someone will read someday. No matter what our age when we begin, we all start with those beginning baby steps and move on.

I was one of those who waited to realize the dream of being a writer. Do I wish I'd started earlier? Absolutely! I've spent just over twenty years pursuing my goal but I've never felt like I was too old to continue. I haven't achieved all the things I'd like to in my writing world. I hope that I'm still writing and setting new goals in my eighties and nineties. As long as I can think and my writing is coherent, I'll continue.I want to keep learning right into my final days.

What about you? Did you ever feel like you were too old to start a whole new project, an entirely new field? It would be easy to talk yourself out of trying. I'm too old is a phrase easily plucked out the clouds whenever fear sets in. We all fear failing when we attempt something different, something we have only a small amount of knowledge about. If we set our minds to giving it a try, we just might find out we can be successful and keep on learning.