Dear LPG, 

I think that it is refreshing that, although there is still lots of depressing news to be heard on a daily base, it is no longer completely overrun with the consequences of the pandemic.   

When we look at the world, and even the effect it has had on our communities, it is not hard to see that the fall-out is going to be with us for years to come, but the personal consequences for each of us are also quite apparent.  

One of the most significant bits of fall-out that we older people are having to deal with, is that so many of us have had time to lose focus when it comes to those things we were busy with before it all happened.  

Once retired, I think that most will agree that it takes a while to find a direction; a personal blueprint to help us work out what we each plan to do with the rest of our lives, and the past few years, for far too many of us, have become all the interruption that we have needed to give up on so many of our projects.  We are the age group that have the advantage of not having to work to improve our finances because our income is set.  Most of us have got used to watching younger relatives learning about working from home or just soldiering on while we have had no time limits, target dates or cut-off points to keep us focused.

I would like to remind readers that while many of our clubs, adult educational classes and day centres are still trying to get back to pre-pandemic normal, in their bids to avoid the risk of becoming projects of the past, we need to do the same when it comes to the personal hobbies and plans that we had started before it all began.  It must be time to take a new look at whatever it is that we were each pursuing before we were interrupted. 

Today is National Never Give Up Day which is as good a reason as any to remind all LPG readers that, no matter how trivial others may perceive your project, if there was something that you started to make, learn, do or be part of before all this started, now is the time to take it out from wherever you have hidden it and think of the possibilities from a ‘new normal’ perspective. 

AF, Crofton Park.

AF shares a little information about this celebration… 

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