Would you have taken this chance?

What would you say if you could go back and meet your 21 year old self?

?Would you at 21 be impressed with the life you're living now?

?Are you proud of how you've spent half your lifetime?

?Well, on Sunday I had just that chance...

?Let me set the scene.

?My youngest, Bobbie and I were having a fabulous solo adventure in the Lake District.

?We'd conquered Loughrigg, bagging her first Wainwright (not bad at the age of 4), explored caves and paddled in lakes.

?We were having a lovely chilled Sunday at an adventure playground, and had just cuddled up on a bench with an enormous ice cream when it happened.

?A man called Bruce, whom I had last seen in Banos in Ecudaor - 21 years ago - strolled right past me.

?I did a comedy double take.

?Bruce and I had met in the Amazonian jungle over 2 decades before, after I'd spent the summer doing conservation on the Galapagos Islands.

?We'd hit it off, and spent the next week or so travelling on together, as you do when you're 21 and up for adventure.

?Piranha fishing, swinging on creepers in the jungle, shaking tarantulas off the mozzie nets, that sort of vibe.

?I'd last seen him heading off for the train station in southern Ecuador. I'd carried on with my travel plans, he with his.

?I never saw him again, in the way we did before Facebook and LinkedIn.

?And now here he was, a little thinner on top but undeniably him. Of all the adventure playgrounds in the world, he had to walk into mine.

?Here's the thing. I didn't say hello.

?Honestly, by the time I'd finished my comedy Scooby-Doo double take, the moment had passed, and he'd been swallowed up by the crowd.

?But it shook me up, and I felt discombobulated the whole drive home, where I had plenty of time to mull, Bobbie snoring beside me due to the 11k hike of the day before.

?Here's the big question I was mulling over:

?Was I proud of how my life had turned out?

?It had been literally half my lifetime since I'd seen him.

?I'd been about to start my Master's, full of ambition and spunk and a lot smoother.

?And whilst I might not be able to get away with a teeny tiny white bikini anymore, hand on heart, I am genuinely really proud of how my life has turned out.

?If Bruce and I had sat down and had coffee, I could've described my life with pride and contentment.

?Lots of ups and downs of course, but I've spent the last 21 years really living - and I think the 21 year old version of me would relish that.

?So this week I've been pondering - what do the next 21 years look like??

?What does 63 year old me really desire?

?Now this is an exciting question - watch this space.

?What would your 21 year old self think of you? Drop a comment below.

?Claire

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