Is it too late?

Is it possible to blossom again?

‘Maybe my best years are behind me?’ is a question that nibbles at the edges of my sanity every now and again.

Maybe it’s downhill from now on?

I’m 55.

My son is off to create his own life at university.

I’ve left my big job and London behind.

Maybe I’ve peaked?

Both my parents were dead by the time they were 50.

Maybe I just need to be grateful that I’m still alive and live out the rest of my days quietly, thanking my lucky stars I’ve not kicked the bucket yet?

But TBH, these are not exactly the cheeriest questions to inspire my third act.

I was feeling rather gloomy until I was invited to The Alnwick Garden Cherry Blossom Tree Ceremony a couple of weeks ago. The Alnwick Garden has a Cherry Orchard with the largest collection of ‘Taihaku’ trees in the world. Comprising of 329 cherry blossom trees, they all bloom together for up to two weeks around the beginning of May.

It’s spectacular.

I decided it was a sign.

They may only bloom for two weeks but they blossom every year without fail. In fact, there is a legendary cherry blossom tree in Japan that is over 2000 years old – still blossoming.  

Maybe it’s not too late.

[Note to self – it’s time to start asking better questions] Here’s one:

How can you create the right environment for you to blossom?

P.S I write a weekly Big Happiness Interview for Metro.co.uk and for Mental Health Awareness Week, I am digging back into the archives for inspiration of how we can make ourselves feel better this week. I loved my interview with Cheryl Rickman, Sunday Times best-selling author and positive psychology expert and author of Tree Glee: How And Why Trees Make Us Feel Better (Wellbeck Publishing, £16.99) 

You can be inspired by your own ‘tree glee’ any time you want.

You can read the interview here.