• I have lived a great life to date
• I love life
• Life is far too short
• Things can always be better
• Things can always be worse
• Family is everything, but you have to invest in it
• Good friends are invaluable
• Your happiness is truly your own responsibility
• Your health is precious and worth protecting
• Having the right partner for you prolongs your life
• Investing in your relationship with your children from the start is rewarding
• Laughter, laughter, laughter….is pure medicine
• You can choose to be happy
• Regrets are a waste of time
• Revenge is self destructive
• Dancing does great things for and to your body
• All healthy relationships/friendships require ongoing nurturing
• Human beings have been blessed with God given divinity, we chose not to embrace it at our own peril
• Being content in life is something to pray to be, it forestalls unhappiness…….(’Ifonkanbale’)
• The truth sets you free
• Forgiveness sets you free
• Being kind costs nothing
• Being generous generates its own blessings
• You can start lifting weights even at 60!
• You can start aerobics, body fitness at 60!
• The quality of your mind depends on the quality of information you feed it
• I am passionate about enhancing the lives of my fellow human beings….Making it Better
• There is hell on earth!
• There is heaven on earth!
• Pain and suffering is not necessarily a bad thing. Tremendous growth can also take place during this period
• We are all made of energy which we dissipate everyday and the universe contains, supports, modifies it. We can all be impacted by what we put out.
• We are all responsible for the welfare of our environment
• Love makes more sense than hate
• You never have to stop learning
• You cannot change anyone, you can only change yourself
• You teach people how to treat you
• You can make a difference in someone’s life at any time you choose to

What do you know for sure at your age? Share….

Are you a ‘ride or die’ kind of person?

I probably shouldn’t admit to this in public, but I’m sixty now so all bets are off…I’ve paid my dues, I’m saying what I want!  I’m partial to a bit of hip hop. Not so much the bad language, nor the videos that might objectify women. I’m into the outrageous beats and the poetry in a lot of the lyrics. In my opinion the old school hip hop music was synonymous or akin to our inimitable Fela Ransome Kuti. A lot of the modern day hip hop is rubbish.… I digress

In particular I have always loved the expression ‘ride or die’, which is really just a cool way of saying loyalty. I like to think of it as loyalty on another level. It’s the ultimate I’ve got your back!

I think real loyalty…the ride or die type is almost extinct. I have come across so many people who claimed to be loyal but when given an offer they felt they couldn’t refuse, took their thirty pieces of silver (reference to Judas).

My youngest daughter has on more than one occasion said to me in jest (I presume) that just because someone has shown me a favour, I am not obligated to offer up my first born child (…..cute kid!). This is because I am not one to forget kindness and I tend to feel a bottomless well of gratitude, which can be exploited. However my close sister/friends know they can depend on me through thick or thin…ride or die.

What is amazing is that having that ride or die loyalty can exist between siblings, lovers, spouses, friends and equally it can exist between mere acquaintances. If you’ve felt it, lived it…you know!

If you have experienced it or given it, you tend to recognise it in others. There not very many people I have seen it in but the handful of people I know where I have witnessed it, it always make me feel very happy.

I hope she won’t mind me putting her on blast (as the young ones say)…my dear sister Bisi Fayemi and her beloved husband are a couple who epitomise the true meaning of ride or die. I have known them for many years and I have been in their company, its palpable….it’s real.

What does loyalty look like to you? Have you experienced true loyalty? Have you given unconditional loyalty? Or have you thought you had it and were let down?….PLEASE SHARE

Gloria Ogunbadejo writes a weekly column for Punch Newspaper. She is a Psychotherapist, a life coach, a holistic counsellor and an ordained Minister

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