7 Lies Baby Boomers Like to Tell Themselves

How often do you lie to yourself? Be honest? Whatever number you come up with here’s what I believe. I believe we tend to lie to ourselves more as we grow older.

Here’s why I bring this up. When we lie to ourselves it is often a way of making an excuse so we can sit on the sidelines. This destructive line of thinking is simple. If I’v excused myself out of doing something I won’t even try. And not trying at our age is tragic. We need to try. We need to be involved. It’s time to make things happen.

Once we expose the self-directed lies we are free to try. We are able to give a task our best effort. We start to believe success is within our grasp.

Here’s the 7 lies Baby Boomers like to tell themselves.

1. It’s too late. Once in a while it is too late. If I’ve decided I want to be an astronaut to Mars it’s a little late for that! But for most things it isn’t too late. You are alive and well enough to read this blog post. Listen. You will NEVER be any younger. Start now to do what you want to do.
2. I’m too old. Here’s a lie related to the first one. Don’t make me trot out painter Grandma Moses as an example of not being too old. The secret here is to convince yourself you are not too old and just get started. If you keep telling yourself this lie someday it will become true.
3. I’m a failure. By the time you’ve lived 5 or 6 decades there is something you can point to which you didn’t succeed at doing. Who hasn’t failed at something over that period of time? And maybe you’ve failed at lots of things. But you are not defined by your failures. Choose to define yourself by who you are. Look yourself in the mirror every morning and remind yourself you are a winner.
4. I don’t need people. So people have let you down, disappointed you, and stabbed you in the back? That sounds about right. Everyone over 55 can identify with experiences like those. But we still need people. As we age we need more people in our lives, not less.
5. I’m of no use. Life has passed you by. The years flew by much faster than any of us anticipated. We look backward and see a trail of hurt and missed opportunities. All we want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV. Stop it. You are never too old to make a contribution to people who need you. Become an encourager. Walk through the mall with the idea of smiling at everyone who walks past you. Find a way to infuse value into others.
6. I can’t get in shape. We all know this is a cop out. Spend 90 seconds on Google and you will see there are many things you can do to begin the journey toward better health. Can you walk to the fridge? OK. There’s clue number 1. Get busy. Your healthier body is waiting.
7. I deserve to focus on just me. This is true if you are the King or Queen of Selfishness. Why do we tell ourselves once we reach a certain age we can focus on ourselves and no one else matters? Why is it, for example, when people retire they feel justified in stop doing volunteer work at church? Really? You now have more time than ever to make a difference in the lives of others.

This list of 7 lies is only a small sample of excuses we make so we can coast into the grave. Please. Stop. It. Now. Remind yourself life isn’t over. NOW is the time to live to the full. Go and make a difference today in your life and in the life of someone else.

What lies did I miss?

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