Five things I never imagined when I was twenty five

.
I came upon a challenge on UL’s blog in which the victim is asked to come up with ‘five things they never imagined when they were twenty five’. I thought of heaps of things. Blogs weren’t invented then, and I thought the world was round. Global warming wasn’t thought of and allergies simply didn’t exist. We thought that dirty old men were people to be laughed at, not feared, and we thought the Beatles were a five minute wonder. We thought a cell phone the size of a house brick could never be improved on! I even felt certain that I would never like Americans! Anyway, I whittled it down to five. So here goes.
one
.

one

.

I got married on my twenty fifth birthday. The first day of a life of wedded bliss. As I stood there in my grey morning suit, top hat clutched in a sweaty trembling hand, little did I imagine that fifteen years later I’d be standing next to the very same girl, once again plighting her my troth! And had you told me I would have had another wife in between – well, I’d have said you were crazy! Now who’s the crazy one!

.
two

.
When I was twenty five I was a bit on the skinny side. All through my teens I was like a stick insect! If I ate five donuts in ten minutes, I still lost weight! I thought I was destined to be the original ten stone weakling! If I eat five donuts now, I can physically see my waistline expanding! I appreciate them more now though!

.
three

.
Back then I was selling things for a living. I worked for a German domestic appliance manufacturer. I spent my days travelling the south of England in my company car persuading shopkeepers to buy more washing machines than they could possibly flog in a lifetime! I thought I would spend my whole career selling. Though I say it myself, I’m quite good at it, and my articles on Helium about the art of selling are consistently my highest earners. But I dropped out! Back then I would have never have seen myself pulling pints in a country pub, or cooking 60 Sunday lunches as I did a few days ago!

.
four

.
I enjoyed holidays back then. Normal holidays. Beach holidays in places like Spain and Malta. Nothing adventurous, nothing daring. I never saw myself being single in my middle years, so I accepted that Europe or America would be as far as I would go. That was ok – I wanted nothing more.

Little did ever imagine that one day I would catch a plane to Delhi with no planned itinerary, and only a hotel booked for one night! But I did. Now I adore India and have visited several times. Thailand is wonderful too, and so is the Caribbean. Travelling solo has opened up new opportunities for me, and I fully intend taking every advantage of my single status.

.
five

.
I always loved photography. When my friends were out chasing girls, I was in my darkroom. The only things I saw develop were my photos! And at twenty five I as keen as ever. Predictably, I still am. One of the few things that hasn’t changed. What I never foresaw was the way the computer would completely change the experience for me. No darkroom. No film. I never thought that would be able to make bad pictures good and create funny effects with the click of a mouse.
.
And now I can make people disappear from the picture! If only I could have done that when I was twenty five!