The older I get, the more aware I become of the passage of time. Of course, there are daily reminders; the fact that my ‘baby’ reaches up to my shoulder and my eldest is learning to drive, not to mention every time I catch sight of myself in the mirror or how tired I feel now at the end of the day. Things will continue to change and move on around me; my children will all grow up and leave the nest, I will get more wrinkles and aches and pains. These things are a part of life but all that said, in my head I still feel 21 – well, maybe not quite 21 but certainly no older than 30.
There are still so many things that I want to do or haven’t achieved and I have realised that there is no longer any point in putting off until tomorrow, life is too short. I made the conscious decision last year to make the most of life and say ‘yes’ more often than I say no.
Having joined the fantastic WoSWI (Westcliff-on-Sea WI) I have made some wonderful friends, developed new interests and started a writing group. Now that we live so close to the sea, I have begun walking – good for the figure and the soul – all we need now is a dog (watch this space, I think it might just happen!). I have rediscovered my love of theatre; the buzz of going to see some small obscure production and the thrill when it turns out to be a little gem.
I have been working hard (perhaps a bit too hard) at times and have had a couple of exciting writing commissions and am brim-full of ideas for future projects. In the past, I have often thought ‘I can’t do that’ whereas I now tend to think ‘of course you can, why not?’
I am naturally cautious my nature, I tend to stop and think (sometimes I wish I had some of my daughter’s personality) when I should just dive in. Like most people, there are opportunities I wish I had taken up and there are times I nearly took fright and ran but stayed with it. Almost without exception, I have never had cause to regret the things I found the courage to do, only the opportunities I missed.
So before I get any older and less able (I look at my own mother who has been independent and active but has had to curtail many activities recently) I shall continue to keep saying ‘yes’ to life and trying new things, even when (or, particularly when) they scare me.
I have been so busy doing things lately that I haven’t managed to find the time to write about them and this blog has been sadly neglected but then maybe that’s a good thing – I have achieved what I set out to do – live more!
