Best Wishes

What a birthday celebration!

We invited some guests down to TGIF at BPYC to help celebrate my birthday and it was a truly special night. 

Grace arranged for her trio to be there and play music that made the evening even more magical.  Great music, surrounded by friends.

Years ago I started a gratitude journal and since it still had some empty pages,  I asked people to write down their best advice for living well in the next half century.  I got some real gems!

Best of all, I can pull the book off the shelf and read the handwritten words of wisdom.

The advice is so wonderful I can't keep it all to myself, so here it for you to enjoy as well:

• Age is strictly a case of mind over matter.  If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!
• Life is like reading a book; one doesn't know what's on the next page until the page is turned; and one doesn't know what's in the middle until you've reached that point.  Here are a few thoughts to influence the other half of your book:  it's not about how much love you have in the beginning but how much love you've built in the end.  Happy is the person who doesn't mourn what he's missing but delighted for what he has.
• You are as young as you let yourself be.
• As my 89 year old friend says, just keep on going.
• Seize every moment that leads to a new adventure.
• Stay positive - there is good and evil, pain and joy - all part of life.  So for the next 50 - keep your focus on the good and joy.
• It's like, relative.  For example, you seem like a fox to me. xx
• Enjoy every day.  Every day is worth it!
• If life begins at 40 then congrats!  You are only 10.  But they also say 60 is the new 40, so that means you aren't born yet.  Either way you have your whole life ahead of you, so enjoy!
• 50 was the start of a great decade.. I stopped procrastinating and started doing the things I had always wanted to do.  I couldn't wait any longer to "grow up".  Hope it's the start of a beautiful part of your life, too!
• The years will fly by but the moments of joy will last forever.  Celebrate each day as it is built upon the one before.
• My best advice is "feel no guilt" - life is too short to carry guilt and worry.  The next decade will be good - a time without many family responsibilities and a time to grow.  
• Our advice "drink lots of wine" especially whilst in Italy.  As they say in Rome, do as the Romans do.
• Don't sweat the small things.  Embrace your new freedoms.  Write things down. Breathe. Deeply.  Know you are loved and appreciated.  Have fun!
• Be good to yourself with the same kindness you give to others.  Continue to explore, embrace, engage and experience.  As best we know, we get one dance around this earth, make it a tango.
• They say that anything you try and stick with as you get older you tend to master... 
• I have no advice to give you; you know what you're doing; you're doing it right; keep on doing it.
• How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? (Satchel Page)
• Once you turn 50, you should start counting backwards, and begin to think younger instead of older.  That way when you turn 70 you're thinking and feeling like a 30 year old, but much wiser than the first time!
• Hope the next 50 years are filled with wealth, health and happiness.  Now that you've passed the uncertainty of youth and hopefully left judgement behind, the world can be your oyster (or in your case, your garden) to explore.
• I turned 50 six years ago.  I absolutely think these are the best years of our lives.  Enjoy.  Be happy.  Think about retirement.  Kids growing up.  It's all about you.  Do everything you want.  Think back to when you were a kid.  What did you enjoy doing back then.  Do it now.
• Sing and dance whenever and wherever you want; live and laugh large.  Use your silver, china and crystal every day.  Don't ever think about your age when you are shopping for clothes - if you like the way you look in it and it feels good - buy it.  Tell the people you love how you feel about them every day.  Do one thing or say one thing each day that makes someone feel good.
• Keep your love strong.