These are together for two very good reasons. For some they are one and the same and for others, somehow, they had to interweave. Did you fall into a job? Were you pushed? Or did it beckon you from a distance and became an ambition? Was there an ambition that was never realised and somehow you were sidetracked? What were the working environments like? How did they change over time? What stories come to mind about people, places and events?

Is there anything in the phrase “In my day…” that makes you nostalgic? Or are things much better now? What are the kind of anecdotes you swap with old colleagues or new acquaintances that shared the same work experiences? Who were the memorable characters and what made them so memorable? How might they have fared today?

“Health and Safety” now governs everything. Were you ever in situations that would never have been contemplated now because they were unsafe? How did you meet partner/s? Through work? Sport? Chance? Did you have a rebellious phase?

If you successfully married and procreated your courtship is going to be of special interest to your descendants. Had your youth and general upbringing prepared you adequately for what was to lay ahead or did you have to learn some things the hard way? Did any such experiences affect the way you tried to parent when the time came? Were you anymore successful?

Did your perspectives on your upbringing change and develop as you absorbed more experience and the world around you was changing? What changes made the most impact? Mistakes are the parents of wisdom. What were yours? What might your audience most benefit from learning from your mistakes?

Having got those out of your system, hopefully without too much pain, now concentrate and enjoy again your greatest triumphs. In love, life, work, parenting, sport, politics, art, friendship, particular causes or hobbies. Can you reflect on how any of these things made your life better? What had to be overcome to achieve them? What sacrifices were needed by yourself and, perhaps, others?

Any "Reflections" on this phase of your life?"