OLD AGE IS A GIFT!
Colin Thompson
Managing Partner Cavendish/Author/International Speaker/Mentor/Partner
I am now, probably for the first time in my life, comfortable with "me". Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body - the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, the sagging bottom, the age spots and the extra pounds. Now, I can travel at no cost with my bus pass and win a 1/3 reduction in cost on my train journeys, plus ￡200 towards our heating costs per year. This is a great start to being 75 years young this year!
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Also, often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother), but I do not agonise over those things for long.
I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, and my loving family for less white hair or a flatter stomach. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.
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I do not chide myself for eating that extra biscuit, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly garden ornament that I did not need, but which makes my grandchildren smile I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with ageing. Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?
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I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70's and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost loved one - I will. I will try to be confident and walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to - despite the pitying glances from the young and slim ............They, too, will get old one day.
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I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
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Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
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I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning grey and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
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So, to answer your question, being old has many benefits. It has set me free. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. I will enjoy the gift of each new dawn and count my many blessings.
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Dream what you want to dream;
Go where you want to go;
Be what you want to be,
Because you have only one life
And one chance to do all the things
You want to do.
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet?
Enough trials to make you strong,
Enough sorrow to keep you human and
Enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily
Have the best of everything;
They just make the most of
Everything that comes along their way.
The brightest future will always
Be based on a forgotten past;
You can't go forward in life until
You let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling
Live your life so at the end
You're the one who is smiling and everyone
Around you is crying.
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You can learn from the people who are barely getting by, from those who are doing fairly well or from those at the top of the heap. Talk to people who are already successful and find out how they did it. That’s what the book, “`Winners Take Chances` ” is about. Its purpose is to provide success principles and philosophies from those who have excelled. They’ve already been down the road and you can learn from their experience. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else already did a great job of creating it? Success is within you, so go and be successful!
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Have fun, learn heaps, join us next week as we tackle another challenge in life, happy exploring and remember, life is all about commitment, have the right attitude to make `your` own success with others! Enjoy life to the full and `Accelerate with Impact your Business and Personal Growth` so `you` are happy. Success is a journey, not a destination, so start setting your path with the first foot print to success. Take that `Quantum Leap to Success`.
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Elevate Yourself Beyond the Edge of Your Current Abilities
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`Winners Take Chances`
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Creative and Successful Solutions
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“The Capacity to Learn is a Total Gift, the Ability to Learn is a Great Skill, the Willingness to Learn is a Choice for Your Future”
- Colin Thompson
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Sharing successful information from many sources for your success.