"20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover". - Mark Twain.
I am very aware that I may not have another 20 years. So this is a very appropriate mantra. I feel as if I am slowly leaving this life, so I need to ensure that my brief existance has some point. There are themes which become ever more important as I age. Not just living every moment, but divesting myself of the trappings of existance which can see overly important in youth.
I want to simplify my life in many ways. I don't value "things" at all now. So when / if I move house I'd like to give a lot of my posessions away. I need to have strict criteria - only keeping things which have a special meaning, related to people who have passed through my life, or things which give me real pleasure to look at or use.
Experience, good and bad, (so long as one learns from it), is what is important. I have got 68 years worth, which must be useful to someone. Being able to help others in some way isn't being a "do gooder". It's a symbiotic process - both parties benefit. A smile begats a smile.
Leaving behind the extraneous things of life is very liberating. Maybe you have to be ageing fast to do it. Simplicity & quiet reflection is very hard to find in this day and age. But also "leaving the safe harbour" & really living your life - every day, is both challenging and important.
I am very aware that I may not have another 20 years. So this is a very appropriate mantra. I feel as if I am slowly leaving this life, so I need to ensure that my brief existance has some point. There are themes which become ever more important as I age. Not just living every moment, but divesting myself of the trappings of existance which can see overly important in youth.
I want to simplify my life in many ways. I don't value "things" at all now. So when / if I move house I'd like to give a lot of my posessions away. I need to have strict criteria - only keeping things which have a special meaning, related to people who have passed through my life, or things which give me real pleasure to look at or use.
Experience, good and bad, (so long as one learns from it), is what is important. I have got 68 years worth, which must be useful to someone. Being able to help others in some way isn't being a "do gooder". It's a symbiotic process - both parties benefit. A smile begats a smile.
Leaving behind the extraneous things of life is very liberating. Maybe you have to be ageing fast to do it. Simplicity & quiet reflection is very hard to find in this day and age. But also "leaving the safe harbour" & really living your life - every day, is both challenging and important.
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