Are opinions limiting?

For many years I was taught to express a non-partisan perspective on life towards my clients, the students, and to be as non-political as was possible whilst towing the ethos of the school beliefs and values.
Basically I was taught to leave my true opinions at the door and to withhold my own ideas in favour of the group identity. It shaped most of my working days and even into the business I set up after leaving the classroom.
Remaining neutral took a great deal of emotional energy but it left me watching the news and people's conversations in a different way.
One example I can remember was a statement read out in the House of Commons.
I listened to the words which were used to construct the sentences, and the impression it gave to the house. It was an interesting statement, so it stayed with me.
Imagine my surprise when I heard the newscaster placing a slant on it which was not there in the original prose. Imagine my inner annoyance when the newspapers took the words and twisted them about in such a way as to make the original sentences sound completely opposite.
I was shocked by this falsified reporting, which really it was, and was even more surprised at the interview which followed where the minister was tackled about what had been reported not what he had read out.
It was then I realised the efficacy of holding the school's values and listening hard to what was said by the student themselves, not what was retold to me by his/her friends.

Finding a new routine; but old ones keep getting in the way

Seems strange to be disciplining myself to doing something on a regular basis after being controlled by the bell and buzzer for the majority of my working life. Making a commitment to writing something like this is one I don't take lightly and have already put it into the diary on my phone for a Sunday afternoon activity. That aspect of working hasn't left and even though I have been working for myself these past ten years, the old habits kick in and run the process once more.
What about the comment; "you can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher." So very true.
A few months ago I was staying in an hotel and heard the sound of a bleeping bell, which sounded remarkably like the bell we had at change of lesson. Before I knew it I was up, dressed, cleaning my teeth and wondering what it was I should be teaching first lesson. Automatic responses had kicked in and I was pumped ready for the classroom.
Panic then set in as I realised I couldn't think what it was I was teaching, any more than I could remember who I was teaching! As the panic rose, I tried as hard as I could to reason with myself, I wasn't going completely mad. What school was I at and where did I have to drive? Was I supplying somewhere? What was the address.......
Slowly, as the panic rose to pains in the chest, a glimmer of a thought came into my mind, am I still teaching? I looked around and the hotel came into vision. I looked at my phone, I checked the diary, it said I was in Glastonbury for three days break and today was a visit to Wells Cathedral.
As the scales of panic left my eyes I realised what had happened and laughed. It was 6:30am and the couple next to me were moving around getting ready to move on. I was dressed so there was little or no point in going back to bed, so put the kettle on and settled down with some early morning news and a cuppa.
Wells Cathedral was wonderful but my chest hurt for hours.

Hi, my name's Jo, nice to meet you.......

Who am I?
Oh just a woman heading into her 63rd year and loving every minute of it.
People who know me would be scoffing at this point and uttering a comment to the effect, "just a woman, pah, I just wish I had half your energy and joy!" which is nice really and makes me smile rather broadly.

So what can I say about myself? Well I'm fanatical about travelling be it in this country or abroad. I walk as often as I can and now I don't have horses, I visit RSPB or Woodland Trust sites, marshes, seashores and the like.
I am a happy painter, both house and on paper, and want to improve constantly.
Love my own company but also love the company of others.
And I love studying! A total bookworm!
Sounds boring. I know but honestly those who know me would never say that.
So welcome to Life After Sixty; let's see where this goes shall we?