The 10 Years I Did Nothing

Right now, I am slowly starting my activities as an administrative scrivener.
I am over sixty. I have never used social media before, nor did I ever think to. My life is currently in the middle of a reboot.

Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with an illness, and my doctor told me, "You might only have one year left to live."
Because of that, my life's schedule became completely blank. From then on, my goal was narrowed down to just "living for today."

The milestones for recurrence were three, five, and ten years.
When I reached the tenth year, I realized, "I might actually be one of the lucky ones who survived."
At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me: "Wait, I haven't done anything for the past ten years."

It wasn't that I had been living my life just sleeping.
But looking back, the record of my life is completely missing. It is now a blank scroll.

I felt a switch flip, telling me I couldn't go on like this.
There was another trigger for why I aimed to become an administrative scrivener.

At the time, I had a one-hour commute by car each way. That meant two hours round trip. Every day, I just watched the scenery from the car window.
Thinking, "These two hours are such a waste," I initially spent the time singing along to karaoke tracks.
Next, I got hooked on English listening practice. Then, one day, I thought to myself:

—Wouldn't it be more meaningful if I studied for a qualification?

So, I found a set of CDs for an administrative scrivener course on Mercari.
It was cheap, too. I bought it immediately and started a daily routine of playing it in the car during my commute.

Naturally, since I was driving, I was just listening to it as background music. Not much of it stuck in my head.
But, 260 work days × 2 hours = 520 hours,
105 holidays × 5 hours = 525 hours,
That adds up to the 1,000-hour benchmark!
However, things rarely go as conveniently as that.
After much trial and error, I finally passed on my fourth attempt at the exam.

I am a veteran in terms of age, but a rookie in this industry.
I have no connections, no money, and no experience.
That is why I arrived at the thought, "Should I try doing social media?"

My first attempt at social media. What is a hashtag? What does it mean to go viral?
Without knowing, I am writing this note right now. I think I am heading in the right direction (hopefully).

My motto is "Just being alive is a total profit."
It was a phrase I had liked for a long time, but now that I am this age, I am finally feeling it for real.
I am surprised myself that I would start something new after those ten years of having been granted a second chance at life.

I don't know how far I can go as an administrative scrivener from here on out.
But thinking back on those ten blank years, there is still so much I can do.

Even as a "newcomer over sixty," life can still be updated.
It is a bit late, but things have started to get quite interesting.