25 April 2022 — A SENSE OF ADVENTURE — AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

As I have grown older I have tried to stay young at heart and young in spirit. I thought i had succeeded until yesterday when by chance I bumped into an amazing woman who is slightly older than me. She was on her first visit to Bristol, staying in the local Youth Hostel, and was, incidentally, absolutely delighted with it. As well as being impressed with all the sights she was impressed with how tidy a city it was. She even remarked at how surprised she was at seeing people use the public litter bins. She comes from outside of Birmingham and apparently people aren’t that litter conscious in Birmingham!

She was walking the Mendip Way entirely on her own and staying at Youth Hostels. And that is what took my breath away! People often comment on how far I walk and I tend to take pride in that. However, I was very aware that I only walk along paths which are familiar to me and that my sense of adventure is non existent these days. I once used to travel the country staying at Youth Hostels but it is something I wouldn’t dream of doing these days — something which I feel I am much too old for!

From my encounter with this lovely lady I have realised that MY PROBLEM IS A CLOSED MIND. There is a saying which goes IF YOU CAN IMAGINE IT YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT.

And that is my problem! I limit myself so much by thinking I’m too old to do ‘this’ or ‘that’ instead of seeing myself doing it in my ‘mind’s eye’. The chance meeting with this adventurous lady has certainly been a WAKE UP CALL for me AND A REMINDER THAT: AGE IS JUST A NUMBEER.

PONDER POINTS: On reading this I felt…my thoughts on reading this are….I feel that sometimes I limit myself through thinking negatively in the areas of ….