THE TIME GAME

 

I need more time...to make another impossible choice, another decision, to pack another suitcase, to catch another plane, to find yet another way...As I hunt around in the dark, early hours of the morning for the light above the capper in the kitchen, I am drawn to write another article. What is the topic of this next entry? Time. It came to me as I woke up determinedly and lay wide awake reflecting on the word...TIME...It has a fairly poignant ring about it...and unfortunately on the lips of many in the current situation with the war, Covid and some pretty cruel realities of life thrust at our door.

The whistling kettle is a harsh reminder that time waits for no one. You can be the richest person, the most intelligent individual, an incredible musician or athlete, wonderfully generous, living a happy, normal life, but time will eventually come calling. The thing is, we can waste it erring on the side of caution or we can face it straight on, head held high. What do you have to lose? About a month ago, I had a fall. I won't pretend it wasn't a bitter blow. After three years of treatment following herniated discs and deep vein thrombosis, I had been feeling so much better, finally. I had been running long distances vigorously and following numerous online reconditioning and barre exercises. I had been really living, thanks to all those who had cared so much. But now my husband was literally helping me off the ground and I physically and mentally had to, as the song says, pick myself up, brush myself down and start all over, again.

Once again, I refused to be beaten. As the Hollywood Actor, Denzel Washington once said, when difficulty comes, "fall forward". I contacted the specialists, including my physiotherapist, got all my tests organised and started my exercise routine with new enthusiasm. I am grateful to say that things are going well and I have gained a deeper awareness of how to respond actively to my body's needs. As I am listening to the haunting piano performance by Krystian Zimerman of Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor, Op. 11 (Jan Krenz, Conductor), I am sitting at my writing desk and am inspired by the wooden carving of the word 'Dream', before me. I would encourage you reader, wherever you are, whatever you are doing to not hold back on your dreams. Do not put them off until tomorrow. If you want to make that call, make it, if you want to play an instrument and you feel too old, contact your local music school and get started, if you want to run a marathon, get training on the basics, if you have a place in your heart, find a way to get there. Please do not ever allow the critics, the betrayals, the unfair treatment or anything you are facing to stop you. Adjust your goals by all means, but whatever you do, do not back down; I know that you can and will make it. Your life is worth more and you are worth more.

What if your TIME in life reflected a more dynamic approach that stood for "Take In My Energy'? Take a moment to think of those words. Don't they make you feel more powerful, more capable, more interested in discovering more about yourself and your potential? So much more than just watching the hours and months pass by aimlessly living without a real purpose, grasp your reason for existing and hold onto it. Consider the words of Denzel Washington from his motivational speech to the university graduates 'Imagine that standing around your death bed are the ghosts representing your unfulfilled potential, the ghosts of the ideas you never acted on, the ghosts of the talents you didn't use, and they are standing around your bed angry, disappointed and upset and they say "we came to you because you could have brought us to life', and now we have to go to the grave together" '.

Venture out of your comfort zone. It may seem like you are protecting yourself, but quite probably you are simply camouflaging the stagnant situation that you are, in reality, embracing. Comfort can kill progress, and life. I don't want to see you regret yours. YOUR LIFE is such a precious and beautiful thing. You owe it to yourself to be bold and take your life in your hands and start to mould it into something that will last. Your legacy is how you invest your time and whom you share your life with, so how will you start today to make it something that remains way after your time comes?