We need to get that back, don’t we? The last time I remember feeling that togetherness was when I was in the English speaking church in Nice, twenty-five years ago. There was a Dutch- South African,  a Romanian, a man from the Faro islands, an Italian, a man from Singapore, an English woman and me!…

If you look away from that one thing that’s weighing you down and towards what really matters, your life can seem very different.

It never ceases to amaze me how people I had forgotten about somehow appear in my awareness again.

Life is so overwhelmed by silliness and suffering. I lie down at night and so many thoughts, worries and fears rush in. It is hard to stop them, isn’t it? No special teas, no pills, can successfully halt the torrent of anxious thoughts.

To be happy about. If I stop forcing myself to find good in everything, if too much grief and loss have taken over, or if you are just too tired then there is nothing to  work with.

The cherry trees have lost their petals but in between them, another tree with its own blossom has appeared: the hawthorn. As I noticed it I realised that there was something, a certain quality, that we all need. It’s the ability to be positive even when everything around us is failing.

I could make a list of the things that are currently out of my reach, like most of the coffee cups, the shelf with lentils on, even the front and back doors! I could give you a longer one of the things I can no longer do, like walking, jumping, reaching… But I’m done with…

However small they might appear, they might seem big to you.

Whatever is going on in your life, however you’re feeling, look back on all the gifts you have been given over the years and remember the giver.

I’m not talking about making the same mistakes over again. I’m thinking about someone else doing the things you used to do, but maybe doing them better.