Per Ardua Ad Astra (With thanks to the RAF)

Before I say anything else, my thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the events of September 11 2001.

I came across an interesting site today http://inoveryourhead.net/ which got me thinking.

I am currently in the throes of my 2nd divorce, this marriage has lasted 9 years which is 8 years longer than the first one but anyway. As part of this I have desperately been trying to hang on to the house using the reasoning that it has been in the family since it was built in 1926 and that it is part of my life history and so on.  Today when I found and looked at the site I mentioned above I had something of an epiphany, so thank you Julien Smith.

By striving to get further into debt in order to keep the house I am tying myself into having to work long after my hoped-for retirement age. I am also condemning myself to an existence which involves trying to maintain a fairly large house and a huge garden as I get older alongside working in a job that once the current contract finishes will involve me doing work I will not like, in a building I loathe which involves dragging myself daily through the rush-hour traffic and other such fun stuff.

So, no more of that. I am going to bite the bullet, sell the house, clear my debts and with the money I have left find a little place to live in to allow me to start again free of major financial worries.

I will work at what I am doing until the contract runs out in a couple of years from now and then find a job working somewhere I would enjoy, such as a bookshop to give me an income until my pension kicks in. I will start writing on here again on a regular basis and be a little more disciplined about it, unlike at present where there are huge gaps between posts.

I need to build up a following so that I can expand my repertoire so to speak, most of all I need to be regular and interesting (two things it is always advisable to be in life I've found). I hope also to be witty and entertaining but don't hold your breath.

I will also look to get some advice from a writer friend about writing a series of short stories which may or may not lead into a book. You are never too old to start and I'm only 53 and 11/12ths so that's not old is it? Is it? Go on, say its not old. Sorry. Anyway, I read somewhere that a very famous author who's name I forget didn't have their first bestseller until they were 76 years old, so there's hope for me yet.

So if anyone out there is reading this please feel free to comment, tell me I'm a delusional old fool, be supportive whichever you like. I am looking to break free from the fear of the new and of moving on that has been holding me back all these years.

I have been clinging onto the wreckage for too long now, it is time to swim for the shore or drown in the attempt.

More soon. TTFN and Per Ardua Ad Astra.