alREADY half-baked!

I woke this morning realizing that i'm truly half-baked!  In the terms of our natural lives, being 40-something means that typically my life is half over, AM I READY FOR THE SECOND HALF?

Whether you see the glass half full or half empty, the answer remains the same!, NO!!!!!  I am not as prepared as I thought.  I have spent the last 23 years focusing on preparing my family for their futures, that I totally lost sight of my own.  Knowing that without a spouse (or Uncle Sam), that my financial future lies totally with me, makes me cringe. I have no major investments.  I have an asset or two, and my 401K, but really?  I know I will need more, not because I'm a diva, but I because I know I will be worn out, and not interested in working until I die.

More than financially though,  are the other important things in life that I haven't yet done.  Our 'bucket lists' as they are so thought of now.  I'm a simple person.  I do not like clutter and lots of worldly things, so it's not to acquire 'stuff', but more as to acquire knowledge. I have very few regrets in my life, but I do regret giving up piano and french.  I would love to be proficient in both.  I also want to live for a short while in a foreign place, to learn and love the culture. The French countryside comes to mind.  Really I  want to be able to travel to just a handful of places before I leave this beautiful world we share. I want to see Alaska, in the summer and in the winter, I want to see Germany and it's many castles/landmarks/historical sites, and France. I mean, I'm not asking the impossible here, am I?  Looks like I will be picking up much more overtime here.

I want to accomplish things, like setting up a foundation for poor kids whose single parent struggles to give them the very best, so they can be successful.  I want to trace my lineage, trace it back as far as humanly possible.  I want to have a talent I can share everyday with people to make them laugh just a little.

For as selfish as this all sounds, if I could pick just one thing from my 'bucket list', it would be the one thing that make me lose focus on my future to begin with.....my kids!  If I could just have one thing from my bucket list, it would be to see my children happy successful and ready for their futures.
So am I ready for the second half of my life?   The answer is YES!