Having an empty nest is a little harder than I thought it would be. I sit here and watch Spongebob Squarepants hoping that my daughter would walk in the room and sit with me to watch this crazy cartoon. But, that’s not going to happen right now as she’s away at college. My new reality starts to set in….I’m alone. I’m also starting over.
About a month ago, I watched a movie called The Intern with Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro. If you haven’t seen it, maybe you could think about taking a peek at it. From the reviews, the critics didn’t seem to care about it. I believe that it’s in all how you choose to look at the film. To me, overall, I found the movie to be pretty inspiring.
It’s the story of 70 year-old Ben Whittaker (played by Robert DeNiro), who is a widower and also retired. He decides to come out of retirement and goes back to work. Ben was essentially, starting over. After doing a video for a senior internship program at an internet fashion startup, founded and run by Jules Ostin (played by Anne Hathaway), Ben gets the job as the intern to Ms. Ostin herself.
I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy for him to get a job where technology is king. He knew how to send an email, and I believe that’s all he knew. However, Ben brought something different to the table; his wisdom and his life experience. He had confidence in his abilities, but day after day initially, he sat around waiting for that email to arrive from his boss with things to do. Jules underestimated Ben. Just because Ben was 70 years old and starting over in his life, didn’t mean that he wasn’t capable of doing the job at hand.
Ben did everything to help Jules. Sometimes silently. When he wasn’t driving Jules around or having anything else going on, he learned with passion the power of technology with the help of some friends. In turn, he showed them the importance of taking care of yourself; having pride about who you are and how you look. He was simply amazing. Though it was just a movie, Ben reminded me that anything in life was possible.
Ben inspired me in so many ways. I’m no where near 70 years old, however, I do feel like I’m starting over or starting again. I’m at the point in my life where my little birdie has flown and I find myself in an empty nest. Being here in this moment of time brings me both sadness as well as fear. My new reality is that I’m starting over or starting again.
So, what is it that I’m going to do? I’m not sure yet. I’m taking the time to figure out what my next right move is. It’s a process. This is definitely not a sprint. With so many ideas to choose from, I want to make wise choices. Not all of my choices may be good ones, but I do want to take a little time in my thought process to put together some sort of a plan.
Starting over seems so weird. I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in my life, but now that I am “kidless”, it seems that a new life is emerging. I can be and do whatever it is that I want to do. That’s the part does that does excite me.
Whether you’re starting over or not, our goals and dreams are important and they are achievable when we put our minds to it. It doesn’t matter if you’re 70 like Ben; 20 or 30 something like Jules Ostin; or 46 like me. Age is just a number. Dreams can come true at any age. The question is how badly do you want it?
Hi there! It’s nice to meet you! I’m a successful single mama, mental health advocate, sports fan, blogger and all around fun person helping other overwhelmed and stressed women entrepreneurs to get hope, have faith and be inspired to push through their depression and anxiety so they too can live the life of their dreams. Say hello! I would love to meet you! 🙂
