Chris | Ōamaru, Otago

“I think when you get to an age, you realise that time is of the essence and that time is a valuable commodity, and all that rushing around, we could have actually used it wiser.

That’s probably my biggest regret. I was always too busy to take the time to smell the roses, or go to the beach. Just have a wee trip down the precinct.

Most of my life, I’ve lived in Oamaru and I have had a busy life, some of it through choice and some of it through circumstances beyond my control. So, some of those circumstances were quite stressful, and it’s learning how to cope with stress at an early age that will help you in your old age. 

So, in my life, I was quite a free spirit, and then I had two daughters, and my daughters both had health issues. So, they were beyond my control, and they made my life quite busy. That’s where I think we have to learn how to look after ourselves. Actually, I was really interested to see Matt Chisholm’s program the other night. What a great program, and what a great guy to just let go, and tell us of his vulnerability. 

I think my advice would be to reach out if you need help or you need some guidance, or some support, and don’t be afraid to do that in life. I think when we’re older we realise that we could have done that, and keep a diary. Keep a diary for other people to see how you’ve done, what you’ve managed in your life. Everybody’s life is really interesting, especially through these Covid times. I mean, so much is happening, it’s unusual, and I think we’ll all look back and think, oh my gosh. Just little things like having to ration the toilet paper. How weird is that for a person, you know we’ve had an affluent society where everything was at our fingertips.”