Being positive

Have decided to be more positive today. There was a temptation to continue to rant about the Government, the cuts, the economy, the bad things…….. and so forth. Then I thought about the peaceful time we had with Misty at the river yesterday on our walk. It was warm, there was the buzz of insects (some of them you had to duck from) and just sitting for a

few minutes watching and listening was therapeutic and soothing. A dipper relentlessly squawked and bobbed up and down, but I couldn’t see if there was a nest near. The sandmartins were whizzing and wheeling around overhead and diving into their holes in an overhanging banking. Gradually, all the negative media pressure drifted away. Deep breaths and being at one with nature – how precious.

In a long distance shot you can see how empty of water the river really is; and what you don’t get in this perspective is the fact that the channel is in reality quite deep. Don’t be fooled by those clouds, in actual fact the weather was muggy and hot. There was even a hint of thunder rolling around the hills. We tried to walk gently along the river-smoothed pebbles and stones, and managed not to slip and slide too much. The water was teeming with tiny little fish – food for the herons and the oyster-catchers.

Misty gave way to temptation and did her usual sploshing about in the water, at one point she put her head under water and ended up not being able to see for the hair plastered in front of her eyes. She came up for air and shook her head obviously wondering why the world had gone dark.

As I sit at my desk this morning and think of all the walks over all the years with all the children and all the dogs, I feel truly blessed. When all around you is gloom and doom and fear, it is worthwhile reflecting on the important things in life. They will be different for each of us.

You see….. there I go again. I guess it is something to do with my training, first as an insurance broker assessing risk, then as a minister thinking about how events affect every individual person. I cannot help but think of the people for whom children are not a blessing. Either because they have none, and perhaps wish it were otherwise, or because they do have little ones and simply cannot cope. The secret of happiness is to make the most of what you have. In the western world we are still remarkably well-off compared to elsewhere in the world. So it is important to value each day for the gifts and blessings that it brings. And if sad things come along, we hopefully will have built up a resilience and/or faith that will carry us through.

Now – do I apologise for what is sounding remarkably like a sermon? Or do I forgive myself and go and have a smooth, rich, frothy cup of ethically sourced Columbian coffee?

No contest.