Hawaii Five 0 By Holly Searle

When I was in year six of primary school (that's the fourth year in old money), I was in a play called You Can't Stop Progress.

From what I can remember, this was a play that dealt with the impending and unavoidable changes that were being brought about by the industrial revolution.

There on the horizon, changes were coming, the progression of which, could not be avoided by those that would feel the eventual benefits of their implementation.

Well here I am, standing on a hill, squinting at the horizon. I can see it heading my way.

In the near distance as it heads towards me just like the giant wave crashing title sequence of Hawaii Five 0.

It is nearly here.

I can't halt its arrival now.

I shall soon be fifty.

And, just like the themes that were covered in that play all those years ago, I cannot prevent it, I can only accept it, and welcome it with open arms. And just between you and me, I have a sneaking suspicion, that it is going to open up a new an exciting chapter in my life.

How bloody wonderful is that?

Pretty damn marvellous I'd say.

There is that idiom that stipulates that it isn't all about the quantity, but rather the quality.

Well, if life has taught me anything, I would say that it has been that very thing.

Quality, quality, quality.

We landmark our lives with numbers (13, 18, 21, 30, 40, 50, and so on), but really what we should all do, is to colour in time with our experiences.

I can recall reaching forty and having a conversation with an acquaintance who told me that they had cried when they turned forty. I thought about that, and decided that it was a bit of a negative, as some people aren't even lucky enough to reach forty.

Dry your tears, I thought, and start living. Get the brightest colours you can find and start colouring it all in as quickly as you can. As, believe me, it all starts to tick away so much faster than the wings of a hummingbird on speed, when you feel as though time is conspiring against you. It isn't, but you are, so stop right now and take a mental deep breath and fill it all up with a more positive outlook, and with people who are important to you.

Turning fifty isn't a big deal to me. I am happy it is here as it has made me more aware of all of my options, and how I wish to spend the remaining currency of my life span.

That isn't meant to sound all doom and gloom, it is just my own pragmatic relationship with my own mortality.

When I think about my life, I feel blessed to have been able to have achieved as much as I have, but it isn't over yet, and I have plans and a list of places, experiences and adventures that I want to fulfil.

And I intend to do just that.

Being fifty is insightful in that respect. And just like the on-going and forever altering prescription of my eye wear, the my clarity of my life, and my future vision of it, is subject to changed. And I accept that.

Just like Johnny Nash sang, being fifty will enable me to see clearly now the rain has gone, for over the last few years I have been able to get rid of all of the life crap that I once placed so much emphasis on.

I have had a good clear out, and I have let go of a lot of things that had bothered me for years. At last, I have grown-up and it feels like total happiness.

The quantity of your life isn't measured by unnecessary mass produced stuff and nonsense that you don't really need, but by the quality of your character and the way in which you relate to others you encounter along your life path.

And it's very liberating to be like that and to afford yourself so much freedom of choice.

It really is.

I can't stop the progression of time, and why would I want too, when it's going to be a bright, bright sunshiny day.

So when you're ready, you can Book'em Danno.

It's all good.