Make It Count My Dear

I met an extraordinary 80-year-old man today who asked me if I ever look at myself in the mirror. "Of course I do" I replied.

"Yes, I am sure you look and do all the things we do, like put your makeup on, fix your hair, make sure you don't have parsley in your teeth, but do you REALLY look?" he asked. "You see, when I look in the mirror, I don't see an old man with grey hair and a walking stick. I see a little boy, playing with his mother in their front room, I see a 19-year-old man who's just met the love of his life, I see a father of three lovely children and a grandfather of 8. I don't see the in-between stuff. Just the big moments. The good ones. The ones that make life so wonderful".

He paused and then asked, "may I ask how old you are, my dear?".

"41" I replied.

He smiled and said: "make it count my dear, make it count".

As the day came to a close, the kids were all tucked in bed and I was about to get into my pyjamas when I remembered our conversation.

I looked in the mirror, something I probably do a few times every day, but this time I REALLY looked.

And I saw a 5-year-old girl swinging on her grandparents swing in their back garden. I saw a 15-year-old trying to play it cool when the boy she had a crush on revealed he actually knows her name. I saw an actress walking on stage and feeling those bright lights in her eyes. I saw a woman in love with a funny English man and then tieing the knot on a rooftop in her favourite city in the whole wide world. I saw three babies and so much love it actually made me cry. And I saw a home, a family and everything that makes my life so wonderful.

You see, we live our lives going from one thing to another. Ticking items off our never-ending "to do list" and forgetting to look up and see what really matters.

So let's make it count my dears, let's make it count.