I’m just happy to be at the table.”

Laurie's monologue at dinner in season three of The White Lotus has gone viral. Here’s why.

“I’m just happy to be at the table.”

For many of us, the table is not safe because of the self-shame, blame and criticism that sits in the next seat, the person who we think is much faster, stronger and can jump higher. The person who we think is smarter, more ambitious and profoundly successful.

Happy at the table is hard when all you can hear is the sound of your own voice on repeat, telling you why you don’t belong, you are not smart, ambitious and a failure.

Sometimes it is easier not to show up at the table because when we don’t show up, there is no place for self-shame, blame and criticism to sit.

Midlife, if you let it, is here to help you break that “I don’t belong at the table” rhetoric. 

“Time gives (life) meaning.” 

When we hit midlife, we have lived at least 40 years, which means our life has meaning. Not only does it have meaning, but you are also an expert in that meaning, not because you have a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctorate in it, but because you lived it. 

Midlife simply asks you to choose one experience, the one that impacted you the most, good or bad, and bring MORE meaning to it, for yourself and for those who are sitting next to you at the table.

The result.

You have a purpose for being at the table and can make a meaningful impact for others, whether the opportunity arises or not. Either way, you are comfortable in your seat knowing that you can contribute, and the person next to you is not smarter, more ambitious or more successful than you. They are not faster or stronger, and they can not jump higher. They are just bringing their own meaning-filled experience to the table.

When we know our purpose, the experience from our life we choose to help make the world better, not only are we happy to be at the table, but we also know we belong at the table.