Is your STUFF stopping you living?

 

When I decided to set off in my motorhome one of the hardest things I had to do was to get rid of my STUFF. For a long time I had convinced myself that I needed all the trappings I had to make my life more fulfilled. Even when I stressed myself out time and time again trying to find that one thing that I knew I had but could never find when I needed it. Only to come across it months down the line when I no longer needed it.

Well as we start the new year I have seen lots of people putting their New Year's resolutions up on social media. Many saying that COVID has made them realise that they want to really live their lives to the full. I for one have been lucky since I retired to to have enough time to experience life more. For years I was buying STUFF, that it now transpires that I did not really need, then working hard for long hours to pay for all that STUFF, which meant that I did not have enough time to spend with family and friends to enjoy life. I know that people find themselves in that trap, they are not really living, they are living for work.

The lockdowns during Covid have kept so many of us away from family and friends and we realise that being with them is truly what life is all about. We need to find more ways to enable people to LIVE in the moment. To stop being governed by consumerism but by supporting one another.

It is not always easy I know, we have to navigate bumps in the road.  I was bitterly disappointed at Christmas when last minute changes in the Tiers meant that my daughter could not come and stay with me in the motorhome.

 I had been imagining us both laughing and enjoying having the luxury of time to be together. I was craving a hug from her and being with family. When this was taken away so suddenly I sobbed for ages and felt quite bereft. Then I realised that I am better off than a lot of people and it is just one thing we have to do to ensure that we have a long term future. It did not make it any easier but I had to resign myself to Christmas alone. 

To be honest I had a lovely day. Facetiming and zoom calling my family and friends.

I cooked myself a proper Christmas dinner in the motorhome and had a bottle of Champagne my daughter had sent me in a box of presents. I also opened presents that other friends sent me so I felt spoilt. 

On one of my walks I was reflecting on the year that has passed and trying to work out what my aims were for the coming year, when I spotted a tiny bunch of snowdrops. 

I just stopped in my tracks and it made me smile. They are optimistic, I thought, with the cold weather. I determined then that I would take a leaf out of their book for the 365 days of the year and weather whatever comes my way and make the best of life. 

Life's journey can be difficult at the best of times. I had expected to be travelling around Great Britain freely in my motorhome. Challenging Ageism and Ageist Stereotypes. Searching out people with interesting tales to tell about how they are living their best lives into old age. After a promising start I now find myself stuck in a field, in a tier four area, trying to protect myself and others from getting Covid. 

For a while I lost my mojo and sense of direction, I questioned myself and what I was doing. I had pretty much made up my mind that I would sell up and go back to living a settled life in a flat and write and campaign about AGEING issues. Then out of the blue I was contacted by several people for various reasons , but one thing they all had in common was that they were inspired by what I was doing and they followed me with interest.  I realised I had to stop feeling sorry for myself, dust myself down, reevaluate my situation and work with what I have. So with that in mind I am hoping to start doing some Instagram lives (INSTAGRAM; shuvonshuvoff )  I want to chat with some interesting people about how they are living their best lives. I also realise I need help with technology and my social media and to enhance my online presence. So I will reach out for that help. 

In the meantime I am keeping an open mind to opportunities that come my way and collaborating with people. Reminding myself to live in the moment and that I want my voice to be heard to help change ageist attitudes and to try to get better images out there to depict the ageing population. It is important that we all age individually the way we see best, not the way society seems to think we have to when we reach a certain number of years. Like I have said many times, ageing is a positive good thing, it is not something to be derided and dreaded by people. We are all ageing from the day we are born, so it is vital that we age in the best way possible.