Social media is awash with so called inspirational quotes. Some hit the spot, others resonate whilst others are just stupid. The ones that suggest that you don’t need to worry about today as the future will be brighter are just offensive if your future is going to be brief. Personally, I love the wisdom of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

I read this particular quote ‘smile and walk in the sunshine on your own path and not in the shadow of others’ on my way to work a couple of weeks ago. It was written on a piece of cardboard and propped against a wall. The second time I walked past it I whipped out my phone for a quick snap. After a fairly extensive google search I can’t identify the author. But it did strike a cord. As a woman approaching 60 at a rapid rate I am very aware of the advantages and disadvantages of being of a certain age. It remains a huge mystery to me how I got here. It only seems 5 minutes ago that I was celebrating being able to legally drink alcohol. And certainly I don’t feel much different. It is only the mirror that tells a different story. In fact, I’m probably fitter now as I habitually bunked off PE when I was at school. Age does bring confidence and a ‘could I give a s**t’ attitude. Which is just as well as it also brings invisibility and the constant pressure to slow down. Older people are expected to conform. Age gracefully. But of course many of us don’t. Some can’t afford to slow down and many view their remaining years as ones of opportunity. 

But back to quotes. A recent one that appeared on my Instagram stream was provided by an American football player. ‘The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there’. And that is where I will be on Saturday. At the top of a mountain. Well if all does to plan. I have sorted out my kit including a very attractive pair of waterproof trousers. I will hold onto them for my Tena lady years. And on the advise of a friend bought some walking poles. I am fit but have probably not done as much hill walking as I should. Mountains are in scant supply in Essex. What is hitting me is that I am embarking on this ‘adventure’ alone. I will be joining 15 other people but who they are I have no idea. Fingers crossed I won’t be two decades older than all of them. I need at least one that is sympathetic to my whipping out my pill dispenser when we travel from one mountain to another.

So if all goes well and I don’t fall off a mountain I will be sharing my experience I when I return. And I must find an inspirational quote to accompany my blog. Now where is A.A. Milne when you need him.