Not sitting still at the cross-roads

I received a message that made me smile this morning from my pal Lois (whom I'm sure I've mentioned before in my wee blog but I can't find the post!). I'm sure she wouldn't mind me sharing part of it:

"...think back to a few years ago when we were both at a funny 'in between' stage and looking for things to do!! Not an issue anymore that's for sure..."

You see, me and Lois have this thing going on. It all started several years back when we discovered, while chatting between wheeee-ing (we'd pinched Lois's kids' sledges while they were at school...), that we were both at a bit of a cross-roads in our lives. We acknowledged, while we puffed and panted our way through the snow and back up the hill, that we were both at a point where we wanted to 'do' much more with our own time, or 'try more new things'. Our reasons for feeling that we'd reached that point were very different, but we were very similar in the sense that this craving for 'new opportunities' was in no way a symptom of an unhappy life thus far! 

We just wanted some extra bits and bobs going on to call our own. 

We were rosy-cheeked and excited about the prospect of whatever lay ahead - OK, so maybe the snow spray from the sledge and the hike up the steep hill had something to do with the rosy cheeks - and we looked forward to hearing about each other's ventures, whatever they were going to turn out to be.

Since then we've both been busy. Our 'new things' have been very different but we've both managed (and some) to find - and make the most of - loads of bits and bobs to call our own. We've cheered each other's triumphs (Lois's most recent being the fantastic achievement of finishing the 53 mile Huka Highland Fling race for the second time) and commiserated each other's tribulations. Some of the things we've done have turned out to be brilliant, some have turned out to be rubbish - but they've all been worth trying. 

I guess me and Lois are pretty straightforward in our attitude to life; embrace it, keep on learning, accept that bad shit happens, be challenged, don't let the failures and disappointments bog you down, learn from them, do more of what makes you happy and - most importantly - celebrate it at every single opportunity that presents itself!

And, of course, don't ever sit still for too long at the cross-roads.