Pam's Daily Wave...

My Hatteras Love...

Good Morning and Welcome to Thanksgiving Eve 😊

“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?”

(by Peter Pan...or should it be "Peter Pam"...!)

Someone recently posted on a FB site – “I want to be you when I grow up”..… (trust me...you really don't want to😉).

I had to laugh, as the very reason I think I am who I am, is because I never really “grew up”. I’ve always thought that age is a relative thing…. Relative to how old you think you are, relative to how you approach life.

Approaching my life with an almost childlike "can do will do" attitude has probably been the secret to my adventurous life - taking me to exciting and exotic places all over the world (although none more beautiful than my island home of Hatteras ), having awesome (and not so awesome experiences!), and meeting some incredible people along the way....

With that attitude though, there also comes some poor choices, and many mistakes - but hopefully they are lessons well learned.... and just make my life that little bit more interesting😁

I’ve never really been hung up about my age – I remember when my friends began turning 30 and they were so bummed out that they were “getting old”!!!!!! that their 20’s were over, and now they really were “grown-ups”. This happened again, when people I knew were turning 40…..”oh no, I’m now really middle aged” was their cry…..and yes you guessed it as I closed in on 50, I would hear “now I’m getting old”, “this is when your body starts to ache all the time”……good grief, if I had followed the consensus of opinion on getting old, I would have wasted so much time “acting my age”, I’d be missing the best parts of life…..and this can be at any age.

My Grandma (who was one of my absolute most favorite people that I was ever blessed to have in my life🥰 ), had a heart attack when she was in her 40’s, and this was way back in the early 1960’s, when one of the treatments for post cardiac arrest patients, was complete bedrest, and then slowly getting back to your "new normal" – none of the incredible invasive and non-invasive procedures that we have today (cardiac catheterization, pacemakers, valve replacements etc.), limited cardiac rehab, limited medications…you get the picture – as a cardiac physiologist, I could go on for quite a while on this subject, but don’t want to bore you.

We were super lucky that my Grandma was strong enough to survive, and we had her in our lives for many, many wonderful years after that. But I clearly remember my Grandma from her mid-fifties onwards, and she was indeed a classic "Grandma", wearing skirts with little matching jackets, conservative tops, and sensible shoes (although she did kick her high heels up every Friday night at the Royal Airforce social club with my grandfather!). I don’t recall my Grandma ever doing any sports, taking any risks, she lived in the same house since she was a young child…. not exactly the adventurous type.

Now, how much of that was due to her health scare in her 40’s…. I’m sure it was a huge contributing factor. But I also think that her’s was a generation that “acted their age”, they entered each decade with a preconceived notion of what life should like in your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and older.

Recently I got to thinking (yes, I know, I do a lot of that 🤔), as I was falling off my windsurfing board yet again, determined to be able to stay on the board for longer than a minute, without crashing into the water…. I’m 54 – shouldn’t I be wearing sensible shoes??????

Me and Nike...

There I was attempting another adrenalin fueled sport….one in which I'll eventually be able to skim across the waves at amazing speeds (hopefully on purpose!), I’ve been riding horses since I was 7 years old (galloping and jumping horses gives me a such a sense of pure freedom, and being at one with my horse) and have no intention of stopping this any time soon......... and I'm now trying to work out when we can go snowboarding again 🏂

My Trusty Uggs

I wear whatever I’m comfortable and happy in…. generally shorts, T-shirt, and bare feet/olukai flip flops in the warmer months….and cozy sweaters, leggings and my trusty collection of Uggs in the colder weather – and have been known to combine my shorts and Uggs…. which with my rather chubby little legs, probably shouldn’t be done.

My Clinical Research Days...

I gave up a successful career in clinical research leadership, to buy and renovate a century-old in Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with my husband, JB (an adventure that was not for the feint hearted) …. which is where we now live.

The Atlantic Inn has also given me a base to run my life-coaching business from, a place that not only can I coach from, but I can also hold retreats in one of the most naturally beautiful and wild places I know.

My Hatteras Days

For years, I have loved to write, but absolutely never thought of myself as a “writer” …. now I have the confidence to say, "I am a writer"

My Writing...💗

With age comes some of the obvious, we may not feel as spry in the mornings, we forget where we put things (this is me all the time), we may need to take more medication, we may need to wear glasses that you didn’t need before (I gave in when I couldn’t stretch my arm out long enough for the print in my book to focus), we may need to go to bed earlier…..and so on.

But we can choose how we think about our “ageing” ….and, with the confidence and experience (from my many mistakes when I was younger), gained over the years, I most definitely choose to adapt, and to continue my life of adventure….

Not me.......yet 😂

Are you "acting your age"????

Until next time,

Take care, Stay Safe......and why not spend a little time thinking about how "Old" you feel..

Hugs,

Pam

PS - JB still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up...so I'm in great company 🥰

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