As the year winds down and the new one is about to begin, I had one last adventure for the Sizzle in the Middle books. After all, isn’t being a Sizzle Chick all about living your life to the fullest not letting age and labels get in the way?

Okay, here goes. The other day I was walking from an errand and there was the quintessential site in Los Angeles. The movie premiere. After being here for 6 years, I’m getting used to it but secretly I get a thrill seeing that red carpet roll out, the lights in place, the fans in line on the sidewalk. I wasn’t sure what the movie was but I was sure that it must have a big star attached. As I walked by the fans I saw a picture of a big celebrity, so I knew he was probably in the movie.

I asked a friend of mine who works in the building. And sure enough, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars was in the movie.

I didn’t get into the premiere, but I got to go to the after-party because of my friend. He said, come back at 9pm and I’ll get you in.

I went home, thinking it would be so late to go out. As I sat there on my couch, feeling more and more comfortable and less and less adventurous, I reviewed this past year of adventures, remembering adventures like Debate Night , Canter’s Deli and A Very Unexpected Adventure.

I thought, I could either sit here on this couch, go to bed early, and probably regret not taking another risk or I could get my party clothes on and walk down the street to a brand new adventure!

So, I jumped off the couch, put on my cute black skirt and gorgeous new wrap and headed out.

My friend met me and took me into the party. It suddenly occurred to me. I was the uninvited guest! That made it all the more adventurous. He had to leave, so I was on my own. All the bars and buffets were set up waiting for the movie to end and the big doors to open into the lobby. At first I felt a little awkward, but then, I decided to fit right in. I got a glass of wine and walked around this beautiful space, taking it all in and slightly proud of myself for stepping out.

When the movie let out, the lobby turned from quiet to bustling. There he was, the big movie star in the flesh posing for pictures and schmoozing it up. I know, you’re wondering why I can’t reveal who he is. I don’t want to get my friend in hot water. Hey, I don’t want to burn my Sizzle Chick Adventure bridges!

He was the perfect celebrity, knowing exactly how to handle the press and the Hollywood suits. I wondered what it would be like to be him.

I wandered around the party, listening in on the Hollywood mogul conversations about the next big deal, the next big movie project. I was a bit of a fly on the wall walking around unnoticed as I was noticing everything.

After one last round of the room, one last peek at the movie star and one last Cabernet and smoked salmon on toast points, my Sizzle Chick Adventure was complete. I would have loved to have met some fascinating people and made some great new contacts and friends (or even had a hot romance!), but I was satiated.

Being a Sizzle Chick is really taking a risk, getting off the couch, walking out the door, down the block and out of your comfort zone to another Adventure.

-Tracy Pattin

Today, with the presidential election two weeks away,  I woke up feeling like I should have gotten more involved in one of the campaigns a long time ago. I could have done so much more if only…I kept going over and over the same old negative self-message. And then I realized, my life was going on without me!

One of the best things about getting older is we treasure life more and more. We stop taking so much for granted, and become a little more grateful and maybe even sweat a little less over the small stuff.  It’s a bit of a mixed blessing, though. With all of this treasuring going on, there’s a fear of missing out. Maybe we should have picked this instead of that. Gone here instead of there.  We hunger to make our mark, do more for humanity, to have richer, more meaningful experiences.

The worst thing about this fear of missing out? Regret. If we think we’ve “missed out” then regret sets in. When we regret, we end up missing out, on our life. The very thing we’re trying NOT to miss out on! And so it goes. One thing is for sure, time keeps zooming by, and we can get mired in wishing we’d made other decisions, other plans.

It seems more and more, I constantly struggle with decisions about which project to pursue, event to attend, class to take, (although NOT which guy to date…pretty much… none!) fearful I might miss out. But in that strange non-committal fear,  I end up swirling around in a paralyzed indecisiveness. Then, I miss out anyway. Does this happen to you?

Maybe this is partly due to my unstructured life, making my own work hours. Then, all of this “fear of missing out” panic ends up catapulting me into rediscovering myself. I shed all the “missing out” skin stepping into a new outlook, looking for another Sizzle Chick adventure. A little wiser and definitely a little older.

3 Tips for Missing Out Syndrome:

1. Just pick one! Make a decision even if it’s just for the sake of making a decision. That’s an adventure in itself. It will feel great and maybe even give you clarity.

2. Take some sort of physical action. Today I volunteered at a phone bank for a political campaign. I regret not getting involved sooner beating myself up until I realized to just do something.

3. Take in the deliciousness of the moment. Stop. Savor. See. (repeat) Stop and look around, appreciate the moment you’re in instead of worrying about what could have been.

FYI- Today, I took action. I spent the afternoon doing volunteer phone banking at the local campaign headquarters.

Then I remember a favorite quote to live by: “The greatest risk in life, is not to risk at all.”

-Tracy Pattin