The following is an e-mail from the past, composed on Sunday, March 9, 2008, and sent via FutureMe.org

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Dear FutureMe,

Just in case you’ve forgotten, these things are important:

- live life to the full

- take risks

- try new things

If there are things in your life that seem pointlessly difficult, but that you can’t do anything to change, then create a new stress in your life; one that you CAN control. Learn something new, push yourself to your physical limits, expand your social circle, organise a social event. Your little brain can only hold a certain number of stresses at any one time, so if you squash in some new exciting stresses, then the old boring ones will be edged out.

Better to be stuck between a rock and an icy place on a scary mountain than to be stuck in a rut in a luke-warm living room.

Oh and never forget how important your friends are. They are AMAZING, so go on, get in touch with someone you’ve not seen for a while.

Life isn’t about circumstances, its about choices.

I found this picture on my PC at work and it reminded me that adventure is a good thing.

This post is to remind myself always be open to adventure and never to make excuses about why I need to opt for a safe life.

Possible excuses could be ill-health, lack of money, responsibilities, lack of time, old age.  These things just mean that you have to be a bit more creative in the type of adventure you go for.  Adventures don’t have to be on an epic scale either.

Things I consider adventure:

- going to a party where you only know one person

- dressing as a skeleton and performing a trapeze routine in a public place.  (Yes this really happened! And yes I agree that this option isn’t open to everyone! But that’s one of the beautiful things about adventures – one adventure leads to another and once you’re in the swing of it, they just keep coming!  And you get a reputation for enjoying these things and then as a result get invited to more of them)

- persuading colleagues to do a team-building trapeze event (and they loved it, even the people who only JUST managed to even get ON a trapeze!)

- driving to places you’ve never been to before

- organising a digital camera scavenger hunt (loads of fun, must do that again!)

- buying foodstuff that you’ve never heard of, and attempting to cook them

- inviting people you hardly know round to tea

- trying a new hobby that you might be no good at

- introducing friends to fun hobbies

Anything that involves inviting other people always involves an element of risk – what if they don’t like it?  However my experience is that most people are really happy to have had a chance to try something new, even if they have no intention of ever trying it again.  I think the need for adventure is part of being human, and if we opt for a safe and comfortable rut, we’re missing out and not living life as fully as we
could be.

So go for it! Find a friend and drive north for an hour and see where you end up.  Or go on holiday with a bunch of strangers.  Or offer to help with a charity fund-raising event.  Or try abseiling.  Or move house or get a new job or sign up for a 10-week course in something.

My snowboarding holiday was SO amazing I think I’m going to have to eulogise it in several chunks.

The outward journey:

Flew with Zoom. Direct flight from Glasgow to Calgary. Food provided at regular intervals was of good quality. View out of the window was amazing. Canada appears to be really really flat for thousands of miles an then suddenly out of no-where, the Rockies appear. The Rockies are stunning, even when viewed from miles above. It did mean that for the entire duration of the holiday I had John Denver in my head (“Rocky Mountain High”) but that’s no bad thing.

Left Glasgow 13:45, arrived Calgary 15:15 Canadian time. Went out for a meal with friends-of-a-friend who had already been there a few days, then to bed.

Bed was in the Ptarmigan Inn which is top quality. Well designed rooms, comfortable beds, and a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. There were 4 of us in one room, and it didn’t feel in the slightest cramped.

I got home yesterday to fine a message on my phone telling me to phone the bank’s security line.  Being a natural at the worst-case-scenario, my first thought was that this was an elaborate scam and it was a bunch of fraudsters who were going to trick me into giving my credit card details out over the phone.  My second thought was that someone had got hold of my credit card details and was spending thousands of pounds at exotic locations all over the world.  My third thought was “I’m tired”, so I went to bed.

Next morning I phoned the number I’d been given.  They sounded very professional and not at all like fraudsters.  After I told them that I hardly use that card, and confirmed various details, they told me that someone had made 3 small transactions on my card.  And I could confirm that that someone was me.  Whew.  So I’m pleased.

Things I’m pleased about:

- my bank noticed me

- my bank cared enough to get in touch (ok so at the end of the day it would have been their loss too, but it was still nice to feel looked after)

- nobody has spent any money on my credit card (except me)

- I wasn’t the subject of an elaborate scam

- I managed to remember my own address and date of birth at 08:30 in the morning

Went to Durham with J to visit F. And it was glorious autumn weather. Bright sunshine, clear skies. On Friday night we just chilled out and chatted. On Saturday (after a leisurely start) we went for a walk through a forest of beech trees. We stopped for a delicious lunch, then did some shopping. Its always fun to shop with friends, makes you consider buying things you’d normally walk straight past!

That evening we watched the rubgy (England against South Africa, world cup final). I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full game of rugby from start to finish before, and I have to admit, I haven’t been converted (ee is there a wordplay in there somewhere?!). But apparently it was a dull game, they were playing it safe, so maybe one day I will discover the true beauty of watching sport. In the meantime, I think playing sports is better than watching sports.

And on Sunday we went to F’s new church and it was lovely. Friendly people, simple and practical sermon, and lots of life about the place.

Durham itself is gorgeous – it has a river (always a good start) – which when we passed was populated with teams of rowers, it has deciduous woods, it has a castle and a cathedral on a hill. It has a manageable number of shops (i.e. not too many) and some great coffee shops. And based on a sample of 2 days, it is the land of constant sunshine.

I went out for a quiet drink with a friend today, and on the way noticed that the pavements outside the pubs were FULL of men! Now since the smoking ban all smokers have to stand outside, but there aren’t usually all that many. Today there were LOADS. All milling around cheerfully. Turns out it was half-time and Scotland were playing France. In sport in general, the expectation is that Scotland will play bravely, and lose cheerfully.

Well as I was sitting in a picturesque cobbled lane drinking a raspberry beer (mmm), the most amazing noise came out of all the surrounding pubs…. it was the noise of hundreds of people all rejoicing in unison. Not something you hear everyday! Scotland had scored!

One-nil. Cool.

Now I hope that they’ve finished their rejoicing and go home quietly so I can have a good night of sleep….

Good things:

- good weather (comfortable to sit outside in)

- raspberry beer

- the underdogs won

- lots of happy people

Had a vague memory of a really nice, easy meal. Couldn’t find it in any of my recipe books. So took a risk, and made it from memory, and it was LOVELY.

Ingredients (for 2 people)

2 chicken breasts, 4 strips good quality streaky bacon, a couple of dessert spoons of Philadelphia cheese, a clove of garlic.

Crush the garlic and mix with the cheese. Cut a slice into the chicken breast. Put the garlicky cheese inside the chicken breast, and wrap it up with bacon. Put in the oven (at around 180 degrees C) for about half an hour.

Serve with baby potatoes and vegetables (I chose leeks stir-fried with garlic)

Today I was trying to explain to my colleagues how to climb a doorframe. none of them had come across this before (poor deprived kids). I then explained how my one regret in life is that I never learned how to do a backflip, and asked each of them to think of a skill that they don’t have, that if they learned they’d feel REALLY proud of. Some of them took a long time to think of something, but it was nice that all (except 1) managed to think of something that they would love to do. Like..

- run her own business (hasn’t thought of what business that would be yet)

- learn to fly a plane

- learn to ski

I like this question, I’m going to ask a few more people what they think.   Its nice to see people looking outside their current situation and allowing themselves to use their imagination.

(Oh and since I started writing I’ve got some more answers: learn to play the guitar, learn to play the piano, learn to do a handstand)…

Went away with a group of friends this weekend.

Good stuff that happened:

- I’ve got 20 friends, how cool is that?!

- the ONLY youth hostel which had space for us all turned out to be superb, just right for what we needed.

- I have a friend who can cook gourmet meals for 20 people without getting stressed (and at a cost of 10 pounds a head for 3 evening meals and 2 lunches!)

- got a birthday cake on Saturday and a birthday cake on Sunday and its not even my birthday yet!

- discovered its possible to be upside down in a doorframe, but starting from very low down. To work on: how to proceed UP the doorframe, and how to then get OUT of that position safely!!

- spending time with other people who also understand the value of spending time with your feet higher than your head.

The other day, I was at a party.. It was a very colourful party with an “old school circus” theme, so made for some good photos. And for an hour or so we went outside while various people juggled with fire and did fire poi. We had a huge speaker rigged up so that there was music blaring out into the garden, which definitely added to the ambience. (And of course, being good neighbours, didn’t leave the music blaring TOO late…)

If I knew how to embed a video I would, but in the meantime if you’re interested in a 6-second clip on what it was like, copy and paste the link below

http://www.youtube.com/v/h73hboze–c