I was excited to read about a new global writing challenge started by a group of blogging friends—Gail from Is This Mutton (UK) Deb from Deb’sWorld (Australia), Mary Katherine from MK’s Adventures in Style (USA), Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper (UK) and Jill from Grownup Glamour (Australia). On the third Thursday of every month they’ll respond to the prompt “Tell Us About XXX” which could cover any subject matter. It could be a blog post with opinions or memories; a poem, photos, anything at all. Sounds intriguing right? I thought so too, which is why I decided to join in! This month, the first of the challenges is “Tell Us About…Time”…
I lost my mum (pictured above with my younger brother) when I was only 13 years old, she was in her very early 30s and obviously it really affected me and my family. One of the biggest things it did to me was it made me think that I, also, wouldn’t have much time on this earth. I’ve spoken to others who lost one of their parents when they were young, and the majority felt the same; that we wouldn’t live any longer than they did. It’s a scary thing to grow up, thinking that you might not make it to your mid-thirties.
The thought of dying young grew heavily on my mind for years, but fortunately I managed to pull myself out of that downward spiral, changing the way I thought to become the much more positive, happy person that I am today. And, at 47 years old, I am enjoying all the time that I have. And, hopefully, there’s going to be years and years and years more.
I’ve lost many loved ones over the years, not just my mum, and I always think about how the older we get, the more privileged we are to be alive. It IS such a privilege to have time on this earth and we should therefore live our lives to the absolute fullest. It took me quite some time to realise this, and I am so grateful that I did, because my life is so much more amazing now. Not that I do much else differently, it’s just the way I look at things, the small things and the big things. Waking up in the morning and seeing the sunshine—or even the rain, it’s just so good to wake up at all.
We have so little time on this planet, we must embrace every second…wouldn’t you agree?
