Well hello my people, how are you this crisp Monday night?

I hope you are feeling refreshed and relaxed after the weekend.

As tonight, we take a lie down and read some advice given from a lady whom is very special in my life.

For eighteen years, I had lived in an estate named Greenfields in Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo.

During this time, I had met many people.

Individuals from all walks of life; single parent families, siblings,older residents, a family with a larger number, many makes of cars and evendogs, cats and canaries.

The children who to grew up in this estate too became knownto the games of hide and go seek, busted old footballs, bikes knocked along thepath and staying outside in the summer until the sun would go down.

Everything was so innocent – times were a lot simpler when my biggest problem was if today was finally going to be the day that I, was going to be allowed and play football with my older brothers.

Now that I have set the scene for you – I can get along withthis blog post.

This post today is dedicated to one of the residents that livedin this estate.

Margaret Dunleavy. 96 years of age and as lively as ever.

Her soul is so fresh and vibrant. The water in Lisduff backin the day is as good as any facial mist you will play for nowadays.

Anyways I asked Margaret could I do a blog post with her, a ‘letter to my 22-year-old self’, if you will.

The reply I received was –

“A frog? I never cared for frogs.”

“You would always see them in the hay, if they were gold you knew it was going to be a lovely day and if it was black, it was going to be a horrible one.”

I smiled to myself because although she misheard me, Margaret always gave me some sort of relevant advice or story to brighten my day.

Unfortunately, both sets of my grandparents had passed awaybefore I had been born so this lady was like the nanny I never had, and I wouldn’tchange her for the world.

I explained what a blog is, and we continued.

1. Follow your dreams.

“It sounds like something you would read in a book, but I mean it. Dreams do not have to be successful jobs or owning fancy things. “

“Trust me when I say you will remember the things would wanted to do, no matter how small, but never did because you didn’t believe in yourself. It starts with you.”

2) Travel.

“Travelling is one of the best investments. I do not have a lot to say on it as it really is something you must experience yourself. There is a big world out there.”

3) Solve arguments.

“In the grand scheme of things, is fighting with somebodyreally worth it?”

“Let the past be the past, yes you may be angry in themoment of something, of course let yourself feel what you have to but then whenthe day is done, put it to bed.”

“If it is over something small, you can let this sillysituation overtake your thought process or you can choose to learn from it andmove on.”

“Now Alisha if it is something bigger I really do not know,it depends on the situation, I have seen life but my goodness I am not a problemsolver.”

Above is why she makes me smile. Straight to the point and no messing around.

4) Put yourself out there.

“Now I was never one for caring about what people thoughtabout me, but I did like to look good for myself.”

“So, dress well, wear your jewellery, brush your hair andget out there and talking to anyone you can meet.”

Some other thoughts I got were –

“People rarely forget a nice gesture, so why not get people remembering that pretty little face of yours.”

“Always bring a jacket. Oh, along with a scarf.”

“A lot of people do not understand the importance of having a pen along with you.”

“Make your money but don’t forget to spend it too.”

“Spend what you need to, but remember that money is something that we should not get too caught up in. Budgeting is not the worst idea. You young people have a lot more to pay for nowadays.”

“Always offer someone a cup of tea. It goes the other way too. Even if you don’t like tea and you get offered, make yourself drink it. A lot can be talked about and sorted over tea.”

There we go, a different blog post tonight but look it is nice to change it up.

Alisha x