Unfurl from your couch, hoist your sails and live!

 My name is Toni and that is my motto.  I hope to take some of you along for the ride and those who don’t want to enjoy the ride at least maybe can enjoy my tales of how I live my life. It is sometimes fun, sometimes sad, sometimes banal but I try hard to live every moment and if I can encourage anyone to do that too, I would be delighted. 

I am 72 years old, a widow of 4 years and still work two days a week as a nurse. Nursing has defined me and I have been beavering away at it for 56 years, always proud to be part of a team helping to provide good outcomes and better health. I live in northern NSW, Australia with the Gold Coast on my door step and Brisbane not too far to the north and Sydney not far to the south.  It is a privilege to live in such a stunningly beautiful area with the sea, the mountains and the countryside so close. 

Now that I am old(er), naturally the circles I swing in are also mostly older and I notice a pattern that old(er) people appear to become stuck in their ways, eating the same food day in and day out, watching the same TV channels, shopping at the same shops and lots of other routine that never gets broken.  There is nothing wrong with routine – I love it but be ready to change it on a whim.  You would be surprised how it can lift your spirits and make you feel sharp and edgy!!  I try to cook a new meal weekly, go watch the sunset from different spots around my area and walk different routes. Small things but immensely pleasing. 

So that is my introductory blog and I hope to be writing weekly about what inspires me to seize the moment, so to speak.  I hope I can encourage some of you to mix things up a little in your lives despite perhaps reduced mobility now, maybe health issues and perhaps just fear of stepping from your routine. 

See you next week. 

T