I believe that it is never too late for people to have the life they envisioned for themselves. I am thankful that the Creator has seen fit to keep me here a little longer. It just tells me He is not finished with me yet; that I still have work to do, dreams to fulfill and goals to accomplish.
The process of living your best life has to start with you. You have to believe that you deserve all good things for yourself. You have to believe you are worthy of respect, worthy to be cherished and loved and cared for. However, that begins with loving yourself. When you love yourself there are just certain behaviors you will not even entertain. You teach people how to treat you. Let me share a little secret, it is OK to NOT want to be lied to, cheated on, beat on, verbally abused, used as a doormat, etc. You accept the love you think you deserve.
I also believe that you have to stop being angry about the Life hand you were dealt. None of us started life, or even went through life, where it was all sunshine and rainbows. Most of us started out on the BS Playground. Get over it already! Seriously, you are 30, 40, 60 years old and still harboring anger over choices your parents made when you were fifteen? Come on son!
One of my favorite 'Mom saying' is life is about choices, choose wisely. Each one of us has made some not so bright decisions but what did you do after that? Did you see the lesson? Wallow in self pity? After I got tired of wallowing, I talked to a counselor about the bad things that happened to me and about the bullshit decisions I made that negatively affected my life. I have stated this before, but seeing a professional was one of the best thing I ever did for myself. That was the beginning of me letting go of the past and loving myself. Notice I didnt say "forget".
Additionally, you can't be angry with the people you allow to maintain space in your life, the career path you chose but hate, the husband/wife that you knew was no good for you before you got married or is not good for you now, the city you live in or whatever it is that is holding you back from your happiness. You can change all of those things. Choose to change. Choose to have better. Choose to love yourself fully and completely. Stop being afraid, step out on faith and believe in your soul that you deserve every ounce of good life you have been denying yourself!! Revisit the things that make you happy, the things that happened in your childhood, your previous marriage/relationship or whatever, that is causing you apprehension, bitterness, misery or anger. Find a way to let it go for good. Then tell me how much more your life has been enriched because of it! You only have one life, don't waste it being angry at the world! LIVE IT UP!