60 Years Young Today!

Morning everyone. I hope you are all well and looking after yourselves, your loved ones and your businesses.

I've not been as active as I'd have liked recently due to a few family issues, but things are getting back to normal, and today, I am celebrating a rather large birthday!

I'm not quite sure how I have got to such a grand number, although I think that continuing to breathe and get up in the morning had something to do with it. LOL! I don't feel 60 and yet, my birth certificate says I was born on March 13th, 1966 - the year that England won the World Cup - and Action Man was launched for the first time in the UK. A pint of milk cost about 9½d (≈ 4p) and a loaf of bread was 1s 2½d or about 6p!

Not that I remember any of those things, of course, but 60 years seems to have gone past in the blink of an eye, and the years seem to be getting faster and faster. I am having a small gathering at my house to celebrate on Saturday, and a friend of mine asked me today when the last time I had a party was, and I said it was for my 40th. So 20 years have passed by since my last party! I think I deserve a small celebration! LOL.

The perks

It's not all bad news, however, as in the UK, turning 60 comes with a number of 'benefits' such as:

• A free bus pass

• Free NHS prescriptions

• Discounts on rail tickets and concerts

• Discounted glasses

• Lunch clubs

• Free flu jabs every year

• Free screening for various other ailments

• Extended loan periods from the library

So, all in all, there are a few perks for reaching this grand old age.

Gail Get's Going!

But when reflecting on this birthday, I have decided that far from retiring into the background, I'm going to up my game and live a bit more - no, live a lot more. And if any of you know the poem Warning" which begins "When I get old, I shall wear purple" by Jenny Joseph , you can bet I'll be doing all those things and more!

I've set up a page on my Facebook called "Gail Gets Going," and I intend to do at least 60 things in the next year that I've never done before! They could be simple things, like learning to do pyrography and blacksmithing (I've always wanted to do that), or more complex and costly, like travelling to see the Northern Lights, and doing yoga on a tranquil golden beach, but I'm determined to do as many as I can.

One of my favourite quotes about being 60 is this:

"When I was 20, I worried what people thought of me.

When I was 40, I didn't care what people thought of me.

Now I'm 60, I realised that they were not thinking about me at all."

I don't know who said it or in what context, but it's something that I've found to be so true. I try to remind my children often when I see them worrying about how they look or what other people might think, but I think there's something about getting older that allows you to see a little more of the truth in the world, and maybe, they'll just have to wait until they get to 60 to realise.

A few lessons learned

So as I set off on my new journey, here are a few things that I have learned in my time on the planet, for anyone who is interested...

1. Life is a gift and a blessing, so appreciate it

2. Everyone is on their own path and that is as it should be. Appreciate your own path and allow others to walk theirs. Some may walk beside you for a time, which can be wonderful, but let them continue on their own path without you as well if they need to.

3. We are here to learn about love - how to love unconditionally - which means, loving everything and everyone without laying down conditions for that love - that's the lesson of life. Ask yourself always, "what would love do now?" It will save you a lot of pain.

4. Judge not, because you are only ultimately judging yourself.

5. We are all one - there are no 'others'.

6. Follow your heart and find joy and the lesson in every situation. There will be one.

7. When things appear to go 'wrong', step back and see the overview - everything is always working out for us.

8. Cherish the little things and do it every day.

9. Live in harmony with the natural world and the natural cycles.

10. When things get tough, have faith. "This too shall pass."

So there you have it. Hopefully, a few pearls to pass on.

And finally, I'm reminded today of a poem by R. L. Sharpe that my dad always used to quote, which goes something like this:

Isn’t it strange
That princes and kings,
And clowns that caper
In sawdust rings,
And common people
Like you and me
Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass,
A book of rules;
And each must make-
Ere life is flown-
A stumbling block
Or a stepping stone.

Here's to the next 60 years of stepping stones!

Have a wonderful day

Gail