Being a late bloomer can be immensely exasperating. Its frustrating to see your peers flourish and thrive while you struggle to find your footing.However, finding your calling late in life has its upsides. No one wants to be the person who peaked too early, either professionally or personally. Pushing yourself 24/7 can lead to early burnout. And, often, its the people who take the time to experiment and know themselves deeply who set themselves up for sustained success. Just look at Julia Child, Toni Morrison, Morgan Freeman - the list of actors, writers and artists who found success late in life goes on and on.Here are five reasons to be glad youre a late bloomer.1. You understand that life is a marathon, not a sprint. It was true for Aesop and its still true today: Slow and steady wins the race.Just look at Helen Mirren. Mirren began acting at the age of 18 with the National Youth Theatre in London, but she didnt find mainstream success until her mid-fortieswith her breakout role in Prime Suspect.Since then, shes nabbed four Oscar nominations and one win forThe Queen.There are the privileged few who just seem to waft through life without having to ever meet any adversity or difficulty, which is really annoying, Mirren told Gloucestershire Live. The rest of us, we have to struggle and fight. We get knocked back and we have to come forward again.2. You fully appreciate your achievements once youve earned them. Reed Birney, ofHouse of Cardsfame, won a Tony Award this year for his performance in The Humans. In his acceptance speech, Birney acknowledged the years of hard work and disappointment he put in before his incredible big breaks.The last thing I want to say is Ive been an actor for almost 42 years, Birney told the audience. 35 of them were pretty bad...and thats a lot of them, and I just couldnt get anything going. So the last eight have been great.Unlike the people who find success early on in life, Birney understands exactly how long its taken to reach each new milestone. His road to success was littered with detours, but those can be the most valuable, instructive periods of the journey.3.You know theres no shame in failure. In the moments when everything seems lost, late bloomers truly thrive.In her mid-twenties, J.K. Rowling was a single mother struggling to support her daughter and get her work published.Rowling said she received loads of rejections before Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stonewas published.But by 34, Rowling was a literary sensation.Some failure in life is inevitable, Rowling said in her 2008 Harvard Commencement Address. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at allin which case, you fail by default.Its not the failures that define you - its the moments you got back up and tried again.4. You dont torture yourself with an unrealistic timeline. Julia Childis one of the worlds most renowned chefs and television personalities. But did you know that Child didnt start cooking until her late 30s' She didnt publishMastering the Art of French Cookinguntil her late 40s and didnt become a cooking sensation until her 50s. Her late blooming success means that Child reminds us again and again that success doesnt come overnight, and that you dont need to have it all figured out right now.Like Julia, you dont bother setting expectations on an arbitrary timeline. Youll reach lifes milestones on your own time, and you wont agonize over how long it takes you. In doing so, youll avoid rushing headlong into jobs and relationships that dont feel right, just because the timing aligns with your schedule. You also wont close yourself off to opportunities that come late in life, when most people stop expanding their horizons.5. You dont settle until youve found your true passion. Morgan Freeman was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force before his illustrious acting career.I had this very clear epiphany, Freeman told AARP Magazine. You are not in love with this; you are in love with the idea of this.Even after Freeman began acting full time, it took years to break into movies. He didnt become a true movie star until the age of 50, after his Oscar-nominated turn inStreet Smart.Two years later, Freeman won a Golden Globe and earned a second Oscar nomination forDriving Miss Daisy.Follow Freemans lead: dont rest until youve found your calling. You know that a job or relationship shouldnt just be a means of passing time;you should love every second of it.In the company of these greats, anyone should feel proud to be a late bloomer. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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