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Blogs by Chanti Niven
Two Thousand and Great 1/1/2008 8:43:33 AM
New Year musings This is the first day of 2008...optimistically renamed 'Two thousand and Great' and the first day of the rest of my life.
I'm no longer a young woman. I'm on the wrong side of 40 and have faced my fair share of errr...'challenges' in life..enough in fact to warrant an interesting map of etchings upon my face...and yet my face remains unlined. Many people ask me my 'secret' and I find myself pondering. I don't use special creams and potions. I don't get enough sleep or eat special foods. Other than 'good genetics', I really don't know to what my youthful looks can be ascribed. I can say that I don't take them for granted. After facing my own mortality and losing my eyesight for a period it's pretty hard to take anything for granted anymore. In 2007 I regained my eyesight after an operation (lens replacement) and I've gotta say that suddenly a lot of my friends were looking older. I have, however, developed some tact over the years (I said "some"!!!) and I didn't say anything to them about this but I found myself thinking about how cruel age is. I've always said that I will age gracefully but once I get there (into old age), I have decided I will behave like a lunatic. Life's not fun unless you're little crazy. I've dreamed about buying a Harley and going on a tour through Africa. 'Dangerous' you say? Sheesh that's the point. If I can't take my own life into my hands at 70 when can I do it? You get away with so much more when you're old. People may shake their heads and think 'Poor old dear has finally lost her marbles' but they'll smile benignly and make patronizing statements like, 'Don't you think you should be taking it easy at your age?' That is one thing I do not plan to do. Those times I've taken life easy have been the most miserable of my life. When I'm on a seaside holiday, I'll be the one with the bucket and spade building sandcastles on the beach, exploring rock pools for unusual lifeforms, snorkelling or walking miles in search of shipwrecks. I do not understand how anyone can lie motionless on a beach and bake in the sun. The toned, tanned bodies are great eye candy but dontcha know that 'tanned now' equals 'leather later'? Just look at what happened to Bridget Bardot and learn or weep later.
Back to 2008. Just before midnight on the last day of 2007 I sent a text message out to my friends that read, "2007 has been a year of 'break ups', 'break outs', 'break ins' and 'break downs'. May 2008 only bring 'break throughs'. I was half expecting a reply that read 'Gimme a break' My response would have been 'Where would you like it?'
If there is any wisdom I can impart at this wise old age (and don't get smart sonny!) it is:
