I only contemplated one thing—a happy marriage. About that I had complete self-assurance—as all my friends did. We were conscious of all the happiness that awaited us; we looked forward to love, to being looked after, to being cherished and admired, and we intended to get our own way in the things which mattered to us while at the same time putting our husbands' life, career and success before all, as was our proud duty. We didn't need pep pills or sedatives, we had belief and joy in life. We had our own personal disappointments—moments of unhappiness‚but on the whole life was fun.
The real excitement of being a girl—of being, that is, a woman in embryo—was that life was such a wonderful gamble. You didn't know what was going to happen to you. That was what made being a woman so exciting. No worry about what you should be or do—Biology would decide. You were waiting for The Man, and when the man came, he would change your entire life! You can say what you like, that is an exciting oint of view to hold at the threshold of life. What will happen? ... "Perhaps I'll marry someone who builds bridges, or an explorer." The world was open to you—not open to your choice, but open to what Fate brought you. You might marry anyone; you might, of course, marry a drunkard or be very unhappy, but that only heightened the general feeling of excitement. And one wasn't marrying the profession, either; it was the man. In the words of old nurses, nannies, cooks an dhousemaids:
"One day Mr. Right will come along."Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
This was Agatha Christie's attitude through much of her life. She looked at life as an exciting gamble, even when sometimes the payoff is sadness or regret. She had a generally happy, optimistic nature that was always ready for the next adventure. Many of us could do with a little more of that quality.
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