I’m Living A Pretty Colourful Life.

 

There are a few things I want you to know about this post guys.

1. It took me a lot longer to write than expected, because I kept getting side tracked every time I found hilarious photos. 

2. Writing this post wasn't just preaching about something; because it made me FEEL what I was writing about (You’ll understand this in a moment). 

3. It made me realise I'm always going to be awesome. And so are you. 

Whenever I think about growing up, I get pretty scared. Scared that I'm not feeling quite like a ‘grown up’ yet, scared that I haven’t got kids like most of my friends, scared that I don’t even know if I want kids, and scared that I’ll change and become this boring person who isn't living life to the fullest. That last one actually terrifies me. 

I was thinking about all of this when I discovered The Colour Report*, a survey conducted by McCarthy and Stone; the UK's number one developer of privately owned retirement properties. WOAH WOAH WOAH, slow your roll sunshine. I see you all switching off there. Come on, it's me. I have a point, I swear. It's a good one actually, so stay with me.

The Colour Report is a huge, detailed survey that McCarthy and Stone took from more than 2500 retirees; and they discovered some pretty interesting things. For example, 59% of people aged 65-74 remain sexually active with nearly one in five people aged 75+ still having regular sex. Ohhh yes, you read that right. And 14% of over 75s surveyed still shop at leading fashion stores like Zara and Topshop. That's right, we'll still be swanning around Topshop swatching lippies well into our seventies, you better believe!

But the most important one to me was that 84% of retirees said having a laugh with their friends keeps them feeling young. How amazing is that?
First of all it gives me a little bit of hope, I mean.. if I can still be having a laugh and feeling young when I'm a retiree, what have I got to be worried about? Secondly, I wonder in what ways I'll be having a laugh?...

Still getting pissed with my mates while sat around 'Instagramming' our wine glasses? Maybe.
Drinking random shots at Revs to ensure we've tried every single one? Possibly (oh god I hope!)
Insisting we still visit the Disney store? Okay maybe not. Maybe. I dunno, we'll see.

I feel like I've been given a little bit of a magic gift though really. If I just make sure I'm always having a laugh with my friends, I'm sorted! I'll have stolen Peter Pan's ability to stay young (sort of..)! They've basically proven that the most important things are happiness, friendships and living life to the fullest. I'm all about this. I can get rid of this crazy notion that I'll suddenly have to change who I am at some point.

I have such a wide group of friends, especially since I started blogging, from all across the world. I talk to my friends every single day, whether it be online, on the phone, writing letters, video calls, etc. Friendships are one of the most important things in life and keep you fun, and 100% yourself. After all, don't we all feel completely rejuvenated after catching up with friends? - Unless of course it involved Vodka, which in that case is understandable if you're left a little worse for wear ;)

So yes, I get scared about growing up, but The Colour Report really did make me feel a little better to be honest. It's all about reminding us we don't need to have this dated idea of retirement that we all seem to go by. There's no endings, no boring life, no rules. I'm still going to be me! I'll probably still be dying my hair all the colours of the rainbow. I'm still going to be chatting with my friends every day and I'm still going to make happiness my number one priority.

I genuinely do feel better about the whole shebang after reading up on The Colour Report. Oh, FYI you guys you can find some pretty hilarious statistics in there, well worth a peep.

So, now you guys.
Do you ever think about what you'll be like in years to come? How will you ensure you're still living life to the fullest? :) Let me know!

*This post was written in collaboration with McCarthy and Stone. All views are my own (always!) and I only post about issues/topics that genuinely interest me.

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