I'm 66 and the thing I learned too late isn't that I should have traveled more or worked less - it's that I spent forty years waiting for permission to want things - Silicon Canals

"I spent forty years waiting for permission to want things. Not permission to do things. Permission to want them. There's a gap between those two that I didn't understand until I was well into the second half of my life."

"Wanting something felt incomplete as a private experience. The desire, on its own, didn't feel sufficient. It had to pass a test first. Was it sensible? Did it make me look reasonable?"

"If it passed, I'd allow myself to want it. If it failed, I'd quietly let it go. Or hold it at a distance, as a vague thing I might do someday, when the time was right."

"I was sixty-one when a therapist asked me what I actually wanted, as distinct from what I thought I should want. I sat there for what felt like a very long time."

Many people reflect on regrets related to travel, work, and relationships as they age. However, a deeper realization emerges about the need for permission to want things. This internal struggle often overshadows personal desires, leading individuals to prioritize societal expectations over their own preferences. The distinction between wanting and doing becomes clear later in life, revealing that many have spent years justifying their desires based on external validation rather than embracing them freely. A pivotal moment occurs when one is prompted to identify true wants versus perceived obligations.

Read at Silicon Canals