Over the past five years, I have been involved with a senior citizens group in my local neighbourhood. It is an instructive activity as one becomes aware of members of the group who are suddenly no longer there, having passed on.

I was recently invited to speak at one of the weekly meetings of the group to encourage and reassure them as, the caller told me, they were feeling a bit despondent as a number of them had lost friends who had passed away in the past few months and were feeling very lonely.

Have you ever had the opportunity to speak to senior citizens? Having done it for the past five years, I can tell you that it’s not an easy task. You can’t use any of the usual hype stuff that may work for people in their 20s, 30s, 40s or even their 50s. You can’t tell them, “When you get out of bed in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’”

That might work for younger people but it doesn’t work for older people. You’ve got to come up with something a lot more meaningful than that!

My point, however, is that this exercise forced me to think about some of the many gifts I am enjoying right now in my own life – the gifts of good health, strength and mobility of mind and body, a loving and supportive family, a comfortable home that suits our lifestyle, opportunities to be significant both professionally and personally, committed, competent and loyal team members in my business, and more …

The risk we all face is that we don’t fully and consciously realise the wonder of our gifts until we no longer have them. In 50 or 60 years’ time, the cars we drive, the homes we live in, the clothes we are wearing will be irrelevant to us. It would therefore be wise of us to appreciate our gifts while we’ve got them so that we are not plagued by regret when we no longer have them.

Have you done an inventory of the gifts you are currently enjoying in your life?

You can read the rest of what Alan Hosking has to say on this subject by clicking here.