In the spirit (a little sip of gin may have been involved in the decision making process!) of being brave and adventurous, I agreed to participate in a ballet class last week.

This may not sound particularly brave or adventurous, but believe me, it felt it!  I was informed, at the tender age of 4, that I would have no future as a ballerina – I was already too big and lacked a certain requisite grace and coordination.  My dancing days were over, my dreams shattered and my tutu consigned to the scrap heap…I was scarred for life!

But what better opportunity to overcome adversity, to don my UNICEF shirt with pride (fortunately neither a leotard nor tutu were required!) and give it another go.  So plié and pirouette I did, neither in time to the music nor gracefully, but with much joy and gusto – for whilst they may have been right all those years ago, this time it was about appreciating how lucky I had been as a child to even have the opportunity, it was also a celebration of friendship and a great excuse to eat cake afterwards – my kind of training all round!