In less than two weeks time I celebrate my 59th birthday. How on earth did that happen? I’m so much older than I ever thought I would be. But 60 is supposed to be the new 40. And this is the youngest I will ever be again. 

When I turned 56 I barely gave a thought to my mortality. In the year leading up to that birthday I had lost weight and was getting fitter and stronger by the week. I had completed a Spartan race a few months earlier. I felt good. Well apart from the odd dizzy spell. I didn’t give my mortality a thought.

A few months forward everything had changed. My best friend was terminally ill and I was facing open heart surgery. I was using an online calculator to determine my chances of survival. Fortunately the odds were excellent. 

Three years on I am a very different person. I don’t take my health for granted and I am grateful for every experience. The good and the bad. My friend was not so fortunate.

So as I enter my 60th year I intend to write a weekly blog describing my life, my goals and my experiences. It may not be very exciting. I’m unlikely to find myself in the VIP area of a club with C rated celebrities. I’m certainly not down with the kids. I may not get up again. And my ideal Friday night is a takeaway curry, lager and crappy television. And whilst my bucket list looks pretty impressive I am constrained by time and finances. I work full time and will continue to do so until my son completes his degree. 

I do have friends who would rather poke hot needles in their eyes than announce to the world that their have reached this milestone. But for me I am just so grateful that I have got here. I want to, I need to, acknowledge it. 

To support the writing of this weekly  blog I have a 60 for 60 list. A list of 60 things I want to do during the next year ending up with a celebration of getting to the big 60. I appreciate this is not the most innovative thing to do but I will attempt to steer away from plagiarism. So what is on my list. There are fitness goals I want to achieve. No surprise there. There are books I want to read. Books that are very different to the crime novels I usually gravitate towards. And things I want to do. Some of these things I have done before. For example, London Pride. But most will be new experiences. 

I have placed the list on my About page. There are gaps and any suggestions as to how I fill these gaps would be great as long as they are legal and age appropriate. But the gaps are intentional. It is often the experience that creeps up on us that is the most memorable. 

Here is to the next twelve months.