
As an aspiring writer, my mood about what my intentions are for the future vary like tidal waves. Mostly, I’m pleased to say, I’m very happy with my progress and confident in my ambitions to strive for goal and ignore (mostly) negative judgement along the way. However, sometimes (sometimes this is a lot) I need that little nudge in the right direction to remind myself of all I have achieved, all that is good about my life and remember how bright the future remains.
Reading other blogs which I frequently do, I came across a lovely idea for a post where the author of The Wellbeing Blogger has written 30 things that they had achieved before turning 30. Not only did this make me smile, giving me an idea for this week’s blog post, it also was an interesting way of looking at life from a different angle.
Everybody, particularly in their early years before lives are settled and anything is certain, has fear of comparison. They compare themselves to others and if they’ve not reached certain goals by certain ages then it’s all doom and gloom until they’ve sunk a bottle of wine and nothing matters anymore. Definitely speaking from experience here!
Yet life isn’t always so smooth and predictable. If you wish to have children by thirty then great, but it may take you a lot longer to conceive than you expect. If you wish to get married by twenty eight then the right man may come along at thirty one, but that is still ok. If you want your career to kick off at twenty three then brilliant and go ahead and try, but often these things take time and if you are striving to make a career out of what you love then what more can you do?
All I’m saying is (and what the fabulous post I read made me realise was) that sometimes it is better to look at life from the enlightening angle of all that you’ve achieved and all of the good things so far, rather than focus on things that are yet to happen and may never happen in the future.
Basically, I think we all need a little reminder that we’re doing a grand job at this wonderful thing we call life and here is mine!
By the age of 24 I…
- had a fabulous childhood
- made brilliant friends
- passed my driving test
- skydived over The Great Barrier Reef
- appreciated my home, England
- did good deeds for others
- obtained a degree
- gave my smile to a stranger
- traveled New Zealand
- read lots
- inter-railed around Europe
- loved dogs
- maintained a job and juggled all my work
- held a Koala in Oz
- found the positive in every day
- had my writing published both online and in print
- wrote a novel
- raised money for charity
- made drunken memories
- realised the importance of being myself and loving people for who they are too
- had confidence about my future
- learnt to care less about what others think (though I’m still working on that…)
- found the huge benefits in meditation and yoga
- had faith