Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Well, that bought me up with a jolt! 2036, assuming we are still here having not been blown to pieces by an Orange madman or other would be dictator, will see me turn 71! It’s getting to the stage where I am looking two or three years ahead not a decade.
However, I would hope to be healthy in both body and mind. We cook as many meals as possible from scratch at home, make our own bread, jam and cakes with no additives and less sugar. We have cut down on salt and fat as well, but with herbs and spices, both savoury and sweet our diet is full of flavour. So, we are doing our best to put good food into our bodies. We still walk as much as possible and I have been exercising and meditating over the last few months to benefit body and brain. Of course, that doesn’t mean I am guaranteed to be free from illness and medical issues. That is what frightens me about my later years, but all I can do is my best to give my body the best chance to stay fit and well. Everything stems from this and that’s all I can look at. The rest either does or doesn’t take care of itself based on that so fingers crossed for good luck and good health.
What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
This weekend has been a really enjoyable one and through this post I will touch on at least five things that bring me pleasure. On Friday night we went to a music quiz night in aid of a charity for Autism. I was there with my children and two of their partners to make up a team of six. I hadn’t been to a quiz night in over 30 years but I instantly refound my competitive spirit! Between the six of us we managed to cover music knowledge from seven decades and we just had so much fun. It was great to see how much the three children still enjoy each other’s company. We are a really close family on the quiet, but it isn’t something that they would willingly admit to 🤣🤣. At the end of the quiz our extremely consistent scoring meant that we won by three points and we celebrated our win with enthusiasm, me being the most enthusiastic!
The following morning I woke up quite early and took some time to read. It’s a great start to the day and I find it helps me no end not to be going straight onto my phone. My phone is effectively blocked from 10.30pm until 7.30am and it has definitely improved my mood and my overall mental health. My wife volunteers at a local charity shop twice a month so she was out for most of the morning and afternoon and my youngest daughter was collecting her new car so she was out pretty much all morning. I spent a lot of time trying to tidy up the house, with some success and I then prepared a meal for the family because our victorious trio were with us for dinner along with our older daughter’s partner. I cooked a really nice pasta dish and we then settled down to play The Traitors board game which was great fun. There’s still another day of the weekend remaining but it has already been one of the best in a quiet way. Quizzing, having time together as a family, reading, cooking for everyone and playing board games. Those are my five everyday things that bring me happiness and I was lucky enough to have all of them in 24 hours 😊😊
Describe something you learned in high school.
Secondary school was a very bad experience for me. It was a grammar school, called the Maths School, and it was hellish. I was bullied pretty much every day for seven years and hated going to school pretty much every day. I had Asperger’s and dyspraxia which made me enough of a target but I also had been at a lovely private school so that made it even easier for my tormentors, both fellow students and many teachers. Even my ‘friends’ were quite happy to make fun of me, so even in their company I never felt completely comfortable. What did I learn? That people were basically unpleasant unless they were guided or forced to be nice. That if you are different you will get bullied because it makes bullies feel better about themselves. That bullies never change. A school bully is a bully for life and they become bullies in every area they infect. Finally I learnt that I would never be a teacher like the ones who made my life a misery. School for me was definitely not the ‘best days of my life’ and I doubt it was for anyone other than the bullies.
Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
I have to admit that the positive thinking of the title is very much comparative! As people who know me will attest, the idea of me and positivity really doesn’t go together. I have generally got a negative view of human nature, a negative view of my own abilities and achievements and a negative view of the ebbs and flows of life. It comes from an upbringing where inside and outside the house negativity was the default setting. Over the last few years this had got worse and when I decided that I was going to finish full time work I realised that this had to change. I couldn’t go into a completely new stage of life expecting things to get worse. That would defeat the whole object of the early semi-retirement because I would have been subjecting myself to a narrowed approach to life which would have ended up making me miserable. So, I decided to look for new things to do, new approaches to take and new skills to develop. Am I finding each day a new and wonderful experience? No, I am not 😂😂! Am I looking forward to the future with more optimism? Generally yes. I have given regular updates on life after full time work on this blog and the reflection on my month just gone has been very useful in pinpointing areas that are improving and those that still need to improve. I am a work in progress and I always will be, but I feel like that progress is better now than it has been for many years in terms of my attitude to life.
That was the long answer. The short answer is that the most positive change I ever made was to marry Janet 35 years ago. Everything good in my life has come from that decision and I will never stop being grateful even if I don’t always express it in my approach to life!
What’s the most fun way to exercise?
When I was a child, going out for a bike ride was the most fun way of exercising. It got you out with your friends. As a younger teenager, hiking was the most fun. I could leave my problems at school behind and just enjoy the countryside. As a 19 year old going for a run was the most fun. I could see progress very quickly and I really enjoyed getting up, getting my tracksuit on and challenging myself. By the time I joined the RAF I was in fantastic condition, fitness wise although I had no muscles 🤣🤣. When I was in my twenties, it was badminton which Janet and I played at Adult Education classes, back in the days when councils could afford those things and central government wasn’t trying to make our lives as narrow and miserable as possible. In my thirties I rediscovered cycling in Japan and loved being in a country that made it safe and enjoyable. I got back to the UK and that was the end of that! In my late forties I was at St George’s University and they had a gym that I used regularly for three years. Then the centre was closed down with hardly any warning and weights, rowing machines and treadmills disappeared from my life. Now, in my sixties I am using dumbbells and yoga to repair the effect of working in London and neglecting my fitness. It is having a significant impact already and as with my running all those years ago I do it in the morning and it’s a great start to the day. Actually, truth be told, it’s not as soon as I get out of bed but it’s definitely before I have breakfast!
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 