Hi, it’s Dr. Denise Taylor down at the Wood. And I want you to thrive, not just survive. I think there’s a book somewhere that I’ve read with a title around that. Anyway, I used to know somebody and his standard answer to: how are you getting on? How are you? was plodding on. I never wanted to be the sort of person that was plodding on. I never wanted to be the sort of person who just talked about my ailments to other people.

I wanted to be a positive person and I want to thrive through life.

I’m in my 65th year. I’ll be 66 soon, and let’s move forward, in a good way and think about all the positive ways that life can be.

It’s not just a case of getting through the years but positively thriving and you might be younger than me and waiting to get your pension, either your state pension or your occupational pension, because then you can make some adjustments to your life. Or maybe you are around my age and you’ve already got some money coming in.

I’d like you, at whatever stage of life that you are at, is to just think – am I thriving?

If I was a plant, am I looking after myself properly?

So, using that analogy,

  • Am I feeding myself well?
  • Am I getting enough sunlight?
  • Am I getting somebody who talks nicely to me and encourages me to grow?

Have a think about how things are at the moment and think about are you thriving and what are two or three things that you can do to help you to thrive more?

If you have watched any of my videos, you’ll know that for me, being out in nature is a great place to thrive, to be more of who I am and just to decompress any of the stresses going on in my life and to feel more fulfilled and happy. The birds are singing and I love that, and I love being here, knowing there’s nobody else around.

You probably don’t have your own wood, but what you could do is to find a quiet spot in nature perhaps, and just take some time out just to reflect on who you are. Maybe in your back garden, it may be on a balcony, it might be in a public park, but just thinking about who are you and what can you do to help yourself to thrive?

And I think that’s a great thing to consider moving forward. And it’s something I was just talking to my mum about as she takes her book to the park with a bottle of water, ready to enjoy the beautiful day.

So, till next time, Take care. Bye-bye.