I would pick more daisies!

These are interesting times for so many colleagues and friends leaving local authority teams after spending their lives serving young people, families and communities... 

I was reminded of the late Nadine Stair of Louisville, Kentucky, who was 85 years old when she was asked what she would do if she had her life to live over again. "I'd make more mistakes next time," she said.

"I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been on this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

"You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, and a raincoat. If I had to do it over again, I would travel lighter than I have.

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds and I would pick more daisies."

Please make sure that, as one door closes and another opens in your life, you remember to pick more daisies!

Chris