Leave Your Footprints

I met up with my friend Tanja Alenius this morning who will spend the rest of the week representing Somero at the Helsinki Travel Exhibition at Messukeskus. (Go and say hello to her if you get the chance, she would be happy to see you!)

Tanja is one of those people who has an energy for life which is infectious. Every time I see her I come away with at least a hundred new projects starting to form in my head, and we are always brainstorming about what would make Somero an even better place to live.

We had an interesting talk today about how when you are a teenager you have the courage to try anything at all. (At the age of sixteen I wanted to become a disc jockey and I could see no reason why I shouldn't - so I became one and travelled the world for the next seven years. Simple as that). But then suddenly you get a bit older and your dreams start to feel unattainable because of all the responsibilities acquired along the way. Children, mortgages, jobs..... we all become experts at thinking up reasons why we can no longer achieve our dreams.

Be the first to leave your own footprints

We convince ourselves that we have grown up and become more "sensible," but half the time we end up simply talking ourselves out of living life to the full. You can always find an excuse if you try hard enough.

Today Tanja reminded me that we should stop finding excuses and just get on with living our dreams.

I started off by finding a patch of fresh snow and walked right across it - the first person ever to do so. I reckon this is pretty much the attitude we should take with life too. None of us know how long we have left, so maybe the best way to use whatever time we have is to find our own patch of fresh snow and walk right across it. Whatever that means to you. Everyone's dreams are different, but the important thing is to make sure that we find the courage to pursue them. The snow is right in front of you...take the leap and start leaving your own footprints. You won't regret it.