Have you ever gone back to square one? Your best laid plans didn’t come together as you hoped it would, so back you went to square one.

I’ve been there. Many times. Choices I wish had chosen differently. Ideas that seemed stellar at the time but then deteriorated into disaster. Relationships knocked off kilter by well-meaning intentions gone awry. Even after all that, I’m still standing, though maybe not quite as tall as I once was.

I celebrated birthday #50 with a bang and sailed pretty smoothly through the next ten years. Hitting birthday 6-0 was a shock to my system. I was able to take it in stride, but the year that followed (2014) was a tough one. The imaginary “it will never happen” indeed did happen, and my world would never be the same. To top it off in the midst of everything else going on, I encountered birthday 61, which was a whole different animal. I could feel it running through me like an electric charge, exciting and at the same time scary as all get out. It was a new beginning in so many ways, but quite frankly, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had to take a break from pretty much everything and regroup.

For the past several months, I have cried and grieved, second-guessed myself right and left, and tiptoed and often tripped down the path of regret. If only I had … But “if only” is for fairy tales much like “happily ever after,” and what remains is this present moment. Now. Today. There are new choices and new roads ahead of me. It’s a whole new beginning.

After all is said and done, I can’t go back to square one – I don’t even want to; so I’m starting at square 61 from right where I am. And it’s going to be a blast! I hope you’ll come along for the ride.