Bill Roache believes he’s had a "glorious life", despite often being told by people he’s had a "tragic" time on earth.
The 86-year-old actor – who was cleared of two rapes and four indecent assaults following a trial in 2014 – tries to "embrace" big challenges and thinks he has come out "wiser and stronger" after overcoming troubles in his life.
Bill – whose second wife Sarah died aged 58 in 2009, and his daughter Vanya passed away in March aged 50 – said: "Life will throw big challenges at you but there are ways of understanding them.
"You don’t want to lapse into fear or self-pity, or into saying ‘woe is me’ – you do that, and down you go.
"The bigger the challenge, the more you need to stand up to it – actually embrace it. You will come out wiser and stronger and actually feeling better for it.
"People say to me, ‘You’ve had a very tragic life’, but that’s not the case at all. I’ve had a wonderful, glorious life, and the big challenges are also opportunities to grow in wisdom and strength and understanding."
Bill – who has played Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow since the ITV soap’s first-ever episode in December 1960 – credits meditation and "understanding what being a human being is" for making his life easier.
He is quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper as saying: "I’ve been an actor for over 60 years now, and I’ve been meditating for around 50 of those years. It’s a part of me.
"The more you understand what being a human being is, the more you can live in harmony with that. And when you do that, things get easier."
Last week, Bill revealed the mantra he repeats to himself every morning to help himself feel young and "rejuvenated".
He said: "So each morning, when I get out of the shower, I say to myself, ‘As my cells renew themselves, they renew themselves with a younger, healthier, rejuvenating cell. Therefore, I’m getting younger, healthier and I’m rejuvenated.’ "
Bill Roache: People say I’ve had a tragic life
