In recent months millions of people around the world have found themselves with a lot of time on their hands. A pandemic was never going to be a pleasant experience, however it is unlikely many people gave much thought to the notion of being held captive in their own home for months on end.

Sadly, many people will lose their livelihoods, jobs and worse still. Many more will be left with too much time to think, this experience may be a wholly miserable experience. Perhaps it need not be. One thing that history teaches us is that disaster and crisis often sow the seeds of a brighter future, it is just not that easy to spot the seeds.

Thinking about the future is just what The R Word workshop is about, a series of exercise designed to stimulate thought and challenge participants to consider what really matters to them now and what they want in their futures.

Faced with challenging times such as those we are living through, one positive thing resonates for many, which is the realisation that life is a precious thing and wasting it is one of the worst things we can do to ourselves.

There are and will be again plenty of times which are outside our control when we will be unable to do the things we love or provide us with meaning in our lives. With that in mind it surely makes sense to have a clearer vision of what you would like your retirement and later years to be about?

Far too many people reach their retirement age with a sense of “what now?” and find it takes them years to get the answer and create a life they want. Avoiding this waste may be on of the most valuable gifts we can give ourselves and to those around us.