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It’s okay not to be read. It’s okay not to have everything work out as you planned. It’s okay not to be liked by everyone.

It’s okay. It’s okay to be ordinary and not one of the ones winning awards and being on the news and doing Great Things ™.

I’m only about a week away from turning 40 years old. An age that sits solidly in what most consider middle age. Ancient to the 20 somethings and younger, in the prime of life to those already there and past. I’m not concerned with getting older. I enjoy the experience, the knowledge, the gift of being able to say that I’m closer to a half century of existence than not.

But I haven’t done anything spectacular. I haven’t devoted my life to curing childhood cancer. I’m not a famous politician or entertainer. I’m not a stunning businessman or scientist. I’m just fairly ordinary.

And that’s okay.

I have a calm life, one that is creative and interesting. One that doesn’t make for a good answer to that question of ‘what’s new?’ or ‘what do you do?’ at parties, but one that leaves me generally content.

And that’s okay.

So dream big, Do All The Things, but it’s /okay/ if that Big Dream is something little and not earth shattering. There’s nothing wrong with content.

Take good care of yourself, and remember that Life is Good.

That idea you have? Stop putting it off. Will it be difficult? Probably. Will you want to give up? Absolutely. But don’t. You have to persevere.

What about failure? Learn from it. Try again. Be smarter this time. Make new mistakes. There’s a story I heard once: it took Edison more than 1,000 tries to invent the light bulb. He remarked to a reporter that he had not failed, he had simply found 1,000 ways to not create a light bulb.

How about luck? You’ll need it. But don’t let that stop you. You can’t get lucky if you don’t even try.

Get started. Change something. Do something.

Phil Crumm