April is Almost Over

We are inching our way towards May. Ooops! It’s no big deal except that I am cross with myself because I haven’t written anything on the blog since early March.

I don’t know who reads my blog but its ‘back office’ supplies me with stats so I do know that a minuscule number of folk read a post I wrote, when writing a letter to one’s younger self was a thing, way back in August 2011. If you would like to read it -here it is again, almost six years later.

Dear Younger Self,

I write this letter more in the hope that it will remind me of some things I already know but sometimes forget, than in the expectation that anything I say will influence you, as I know you will have to beat your own path across life’s torturous tundra.

In this letter I am going to talk about striving to get things done but before I do that, I would like you to know that no one is better or indeed worse than you. I am not suggesting that everyone is equally talented, equally intelligent, or equally beautiful but that everyone is unique and therefore comparisons are not appropriate.

Now on to the striving, there is a Thomas Edison quote that I like that says ‘Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration’. I think if can safely be applied not just to genius but also to anything you wish to achieve in life however small or large.

Malcolm Gladwell’s book, ‘Outliers – The Story of Success’, is one you might like to read when you are older, it’s well written and informative and one of the chapters, the 10,000 hour rule is a much longer take on the Thomas Edison quote; apparently for greatness in any field practice (10,000 hours of it) is more important than innate talent. I am not suggesting that you strive for great success (you can, of course, if you want to) just letting you know that even the smallest achievements in life require sustained effort. One thing that may help when something seems impossible, too difficult, or simply not worth the effort is to say repeatedly to yourself never give up, never give up, never give up …

I wish I had known these things when I was your age. I am not going to drone on and on so I will stop now but I will write to you again to talk about other things.

Love from
Your Older Self

Now, the eleventy seven million dollar question is do I follow my own advice. *Swallows truth serum*, er, no, not exactly. I am learning Italian and my homework is usually done in the hour before the class starts and no extra hours are devoted to learning the basics of Italian grammar or to working on a rudimentary vocabulary. But, but, but – it’s never too late. I plan to, or would it be better to say hope to, apply myself over the summer so that when (if?) I go to Italy later in the year I might be able to hold a basic conversation with a native.

Thank you so much for reading my blog.
B x