My Future is Up to Me (and yours is up to you)

I had a realization one morning. I was going about my usual morning routine to get ready for work, thinking about my home, my bills, and the now of life, which led to thinking about my retirement and wondering how I will save enough to support myself through the future. (My thoughts tend to snowball.) After all, as a divorced mom, the future is up to me.

There are not two incomes to support the now and the future. There is one. Mine. And it must do both: the now and the future. Is it enough? Which tends to lead to the more difficult question: Am I enough?

Let that sink in. Am I – on my own – enough? This is a question a lot of us ask ourselves, I'm sure.

The answer now comes out of necessity. Yes, I am enough. I have to be enough. Because that is what I have to work with.

I could ignore it, pretend the future will be just fine without me having to think about it, but we all know that isn’t the case. I need to actively plan for it, actively take care of myself and my son.

This is how I came to the realization. I am the sole proprietor of my future.

Whoa.

Now, let that sink in. I am the sole proprietor of my future. What my future will look like is largely up to me. Will I allow it to creep up while I look the other way? Or will I plan, act, save, and greet it warmly like a welcome house guest?

I choose the latter.

When faced with divorce, there are a million questions and concerns and inner battles that come to surface. This – realizing that my future is up to me and me alone – that was a biggie. That is the one that drives me now.

I am the sole proprietor of my future. What will I do with it?

And I don’t mean to alarm you, but you are the sole proprietor of your future, too. What will you do about it?