LIFE LESSONS
WE SHOULD NEVER STOP LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL AND LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, SAYS STAGE AND TV STAR GLYNIS BARBER
Glynis Barber
My gaze is firmly looking forward. Otherwise you can get stuck in your ways and become inflexible. Age has its advantages: you have so much more experience and, hopefully, a bit more wisdom! But it’s important to embrace change and the future. And if you want that future to be positive, you need to be looking in that direction.
I won’t allow my husband to get into an old mindset. We mature when we get older, and I suppose it’s about whether you’re going to mature at the same pace. My husband Michael is a little bit older than me and he will sometimes say, ‘Do you remember back in the 1970s and back in the 1980s…’ and I say, ‘Don’t even go there!’ I tell him if you think you are going to act old or behave like that, I am not having it!
I am a complete and utter health bore! It’s partly about self-preservation, as I am a coward and don’t like the thought of being ill or suffering in any way. When you get to middle age and onwards, everything you do for your health is absolutely crucial. I wrote The In-sync Diet a few years ago with nutritional therapist Fleur Borrelli and we are taking it online. It’s never too late! You can change. To me, that is hugely empowering.
It’s important to seek moments for oneself. As the years go by, one seems to accumulate more and more responsibility, stress and work. There seems to be less time for fun. Make the effort to stop and say, ‘I need time out.’ It’s something I have to fight for! Life and responsibility has its place but happiness, to me, is about finding those moments for myself. Motherhood is the biggest learning curve. It’s a huge responsibility to be a good parent and guide your children into being good people. It’s probably the hardest thing we have to do in life. You never know what life is going to throw at you. Your child may be ill or may have challenges of their own that aren’t part of your life, and you have to figure out a way to deal with it.
Ambition is a very good thing. I was fortunate because quite a lot of work came my way quite quickly. I look back now and I think there were a lot of opportunities that I didn’t make the most of. I am much more focused in my work now, and I am much more ambitious. A positive ambition is one that makes you feel motivated and gives you goals. It’s a very important trait for everybody.
As the years go by, we should all make the effort to seek out more fun!