There are certain hard facts of life which all mature people face up to sooner or later:

We only get one life. For all sorts of reasons, many may disagree, but I prefer to work on the assumption that this life that I have is the only one I’m ever likely to live, and it’s up to me to make the most of my existence in this mortal mind and body. ‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.’ Oogway, Kung Fu Panda.

In case you needed a reminder, life is short. We know that the time we spent watching trashy daytime TV when we were ‘working from home’ is time we’ll never get back again, that those hours trawling Facebook (which only confirm that everyone else has better lives and is definitely having so much more fun) are dead hours. Finding your life’s true purpose is difficult enough, but even when you know what it is, there are hundreds of distractions that can blow you off course.

We all have to spend a huge part of our lives running just to stand still. Lord Byron said: ‘When one subtracts from life infancy (which is vegetation), sleep, eating and swilling, buttoning and unbuttoning – how much remains of downright existence? The summer of a dormouse.’ He forgot to mention working, commuting, looking after kids, dealing with elderly relatives, laundry, booking holidays, buying insurance, arranging playdates, effing housework, and I bet he didn’t have to pair his own socks…

How do you overcome this? You can’t. Unless you find yourself a butler or a life concierge, everyone has to do these basic things, but we should count our blessings: a goodly number of the earth’s population have to walk for miles every day just to get to fresh water. How much time do they get to self-actualise?

All of us have choices. We are all, if sufficiently motivated, able to make changes in our lives. ‘Hang on a second,’ I hear you shout. ‘Who’s going to take the garbage out if I don’t do it? Who will visit my elderly Aunt Agatha if I can’t be bothered?’ The answer to both questions is (probably): No one.

Whatever each of us has to cope with, there is one thing that we can change, and that is our attitude. Try to imagine how you’d feel if you were elderly and nobody visited you. Ask Aunt Aggie for her stories before it’s too late. Read a book to her, one you’ll both enjoy. If you’re plagued by housework, get a cleaner, and if you can’t afford one, co-opt your spouse or kids to pitch in. Bribery often helps. And if none of that works, you could decide that you really don’t need to iron your undies, and that a little dust won’t kill you.

We will all be rejected at some point in our lives: This is a very hard thing to accept, and it’s extremely painful when it happens. The first of ‘The Four Agreements’ by Don Miguel Ruiz is ‘Never Take Anything Personally’. Learning how to deal with rejection is a key skill in life, and we will all be tested sooner or later.

‘No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.’ Eleanor Roosevelt. Remember that when you’re being ground down by someone on the PTA committee.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything worthwhile in life requires effort. Rewards that are hard-won are appreciated far more than easy victories. Physical fitness requires regular work-outs. Mental agility demands an attitude of continuous life-long learning. Running a successful business requires hard work and constant attention to competitor activity, prevailing trends and customer requirements. Relationships can’t be left to chance either. Family, children, partners, friends… all require the investment of time and attention. Google the lyrics of Harry & Sandy Chapin’s song ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’, and you’ll want to spend a bit more time with your kids.

If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. ’Nuff said, m’lud.

There are no certainties in life, except death and taxes. There are some that believe that the first immortals have already been born… I don’t know about you, but I’ll take a pass, thank you very much. Life is very precious to me because it’s fleeting. If I thought I was going to hang around forever, I wouldn’t appreciate it half so much.

We are not born equal. Some of us have huge advantages. Others labour under colossal financial, physical, geophysical and/or economic hardships. We are all dealt a certain hand in life, and like every good poker player, it’s up to us to maximise the gains and minimise the losses.