Thoughts on turning 26 today
Today I cross the 25 hurdle :(
I'm closer to 30 than I am 20 so no more "early 20s" – it feels a bit too grown up for my liking!
Reflections on my 25th year
I write in notebooks ALL the time. I don't write accounts of the days just passed though (that's what my blog is for!) I write about where I see myself in a year or 5 years time. An account of my dreams, you could call it.
Around the time of my birthday every year I flick through the notebooks to read what my mad self wrote through the years. If I try find a reason for why I write this sort of thing on paper, I think it's because I just adore going back through what I've written years ago and realising how hopeless I was (!) or how much of a wild dreamer I was!
But something very strange happened yesterday that spurred me to share this post.
As I pulled the notebooks out to read the dreams I'd conjured up for myself years ago, the realisation hit me that so many of those dreams have come true.
In 2011 for example, Neil and I had just put together a 5 year savings plan to one day get on the housing ladder - OK ok, it wasn't me it was him, he's a genius at financing and spreadsheets.
So in 2011, I wrote in my notebook...
"I'd love to own a 1 bed flat in the centre, somewhere cosy with a dog and a fire"
I knew it would be a long wait for this, and I knew that property prices in Brighton would rise so high that we'd be forced to move to the outskirts and be far away from my family. Living in the centre was just a dream.
Then only 2 years on from that very date I scribbled the note... There I was collecting the keys to a beautiful flat we now owned in the very centre of Hove. OK the dog is still to come, but this became real long before the 5 year plan was up and we later installed a wood burning stove, so I got the fire I wanted too!
Again, in 2015 I wrote in my notebook...
"One day I will work for myself. I'll have the freedom and flexibility to do what I want with my days and routine and bring in a good income to support the mortgage, bills and holidays"
1 year on from that scribble, I work remotely / part time for a wonderful company called Do What You Love who encourage their staff to live and work in a way that brings a feeling of freedom to every single day. I get freedom on the hours I work, and where I work. The other days of the week, I work on my blog, go on country walks on my larry... and wish I had that dog ;)
Conclusion – please try this
This post is a ramble I know. I doubt anyone has read this far down, but if you have and you're the type that doesn't really write much on paper... I would urge you to get a notebook and pen and ask yourself the question: What do I want my life to be like in 5 years?
Like me, you might be very surprised with the power of those "throwaway" thoughts and dreams that you write down. Please do it!
Happy birthday to me (and my wee twin Seamus!) here's to another year of dreaming :)
