Let’s look at clichés: lazy, unquestioning, unoriginal trite nonsense phrases people trot out so there’s no need to look life full in the face and think. Really think. (The image is from beautiful Brig in Switzerland because, as they say, travel broadens the mind).

1 Life is short. No, it isn’t. Life expectancy in the UK is about 80. However, there is tedium as far as the eye can see until death if you don’t make an effort. Pottery, studying, coding, getting a dog, learning carpentry; they’ll all be physically and mentally more of a stretch in another five years, never mind ten, so start today. Now. Right now. Not next Tuesday. How long do you think I’ve been dithering about this sodding blog? Five months. I’m a crap example.

2 Keep sight of the bigger picture. Perspective, it’s all about perspective. Try your best not to turn into one of those mad shouty old bints or dodgy-looking blokes with stained trousers and a dewdrop quivering at the end of their nose who take out all their frustrations on young shop assistants. It’s not a good look for any human being.

3 Stay young in mind and outlook. I’ll do what the hell I like, thanks. However … the fastest way into a beige cardigan with an obsession about the weather is to mix only with people who are your age. Working (voluntarily or paid) is the simplest way to keep you in contact with a wider range of humans. Don’t succumb to 24/7 hobbies, however much money you have. They rarely motivate as much as helping other people does.

4 A change is as good as a rest. Anyone who says this, usually smugly, is beyond punchable. But it’s good to lever yourself out of routines, even if it’s from the rut of Asda to the tractor marks of Tesco: I switched from Chardonnay to Sauvignon Blanc. That didn’t change my life – but jacking in my job in my early 50s and signing up as a mature student to study for a degree has shaken it up a bit.

5 You’re only as young as you feel.  This is possibly the most fist-clenchingly annoying of them all. And yet … and yet. Let’s reflect: if you sit down more than you stand up and move, you’ll grind to a halt quite soon. So keep moving and move a lot. If taking the stairs is making you puff, do it more. If you don’t, you’ll be halfway to a beige, wipe-clean bungalow with ‘ease of access’. Save yourself.