starting over - In Your Own Words

One-Way Ticket

In 1982, I went through an embattled divorce after 25 years of marriage. I'd been a homemaker most of my life, but I'd always dreamed of traveling. Soon after we separated, I heard about a class on how to teach English overseas and realized immediately that this could finance my wanderlust. One month after the divorce was final, I finished the course, sold my furniture and my car, and purchased a one-way ticket to Madrid. I'd had no replies to my timid letters of inquiry, so there was no teaching job waiting for me. My family, except for one son, thought I was mad.

Since then, I've taught in several countries and earned two postgraduate degrees. Now I smile when I remember the woman I was when I took off for the unknown. For me, starting over made it possible to live my dream.

Lesley Woodward
Florence, Mass.

Practically Running

Boy, was I out of shape! The more I did, the worse I felt. Sometimes I could hardly breathe when I was just walking. I finally dragged myself to my doctor and discovered I had a defective heart valve that needed surgery. After the operation, he explained that I would have to begin exercising right away.

When I got home, everything hurt. But although I was terrified of starting over, I finally dragged myself to rehab. On the first day, a nurse put the treadmill on the lowest setting, and I stepped on it but then jumped off as if I'd been shocked. The nurse urged me to step on it again. I did. And I walked. For two days I was allowed to keep it on the lowest setting, and my fears disappeared. The third day I myself dialed the setting a little higher. Within two weeks, I was practically running. I no longer hurt. I could breathe.

Carmella Brink
Harrison, S.D.

The Other Side

The thought of starting over had always seemed scary, so I spent my first 40 years avoiding any major changes. When my husband and I had to move across the country so he could take a new position, I dreaded leaving friends, family, and my comfortable job.

But a few months after the move, my attitude started changing--from fear to a new sense of freedom. I found myself on the other side of starting over: discovering new things. Because of my changed perspective, I was able to see that actually I'd not been very happy in my previous life. Now when I think of starting over, it doesn't conjure up a fear of the unknown, but a happy anticipation of what I might discover.

Carol Spence
Murfreesboro, Tenn.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group