Happy Days

A long time has passed since my last blog, and I can only apologise to my readership that has become dependent upon my words. We have missed the Olympics and the start of the football season, both of which would have received comment by me if we had been there. But unfortunately we are where we are, and there is no point going back over old ground. A regret in my life that I will always carry with me, like a burden upon my soul.

I feel as though I must offer some explanation for my absence. As you may know, I have two young children and this means that I do not have the spare time that once, as a youth, I had. I have decided that the novel I am writing deserves more perseverance than this journal of rants, and so I have dedicated more time to that. Therefore, due to my limited time, this blog has suffered. I now have a weekend morning to myself again though (the last one since my last blog two months ago) and I would be a mere shadow of the man I thought I was if I was to neglect you further.

You have, however, caught me in a mood of optimism about life and the journey that we are all on. I am very much in the frame that life is what you make of it, and so therefore I am attempting to whinge about things less and look on the positive of all situations more. Although this is hard in a society where I have been conditioned to whinge about even the weather, and to look positively is a lost art. I heard a quote the other day which I thought backed up my new philosophy, “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.” Everything is about perception in life, what appears bad at first is only different to what you had expected initially. If you think of things as bad, then it will be a self fulfilling prophesy and turn out bad, but vice versa, think of things as good and watch the results pick up.

A perfect example of this happened to me last weekend. We have been told by a number of people to go to a disability play group every other Saturday, as it will be good for both Sophie and Dylan, and also it is run by parents that have been through a lot of what we are experiencing now. So anyway, reluctantly I went along, not particularly knowing what to expect, and also a long way from my comfort zone, but thinking that it will be good for Sophie.

So, we were in there for about 20 minutes introducing ourselves to the parents that had set the group up 7 years ago due to a lack of any kind of facility existing before. Everyone was very nice, and a real spirit was in the room. I started to feel really good about how I can help other people, rather than just what I can get out of it myself. When, all of a sudden, Sophie had a seizure. It was large enough for us to have to administer the rescue drug, and call an ambulance. The ambulance then proceeded to turn up and whisk us off to the Stepping Hilton without delay. Although we felt kind of embarrassed that we had created such a drama, these people had obviously been there before and were the calmest group of people that we have ever experienced in such a situation.

In my new positive framing way of life, I was able to step back from the immediate drama and contemplate how bad this really was. Obviously, it is different to how the script would have been written, and it is not the path of least resistance, but there are a lot of positives to the situation as well. While it is going on and you are involved in the heat of the moment, nothing else matters in life. Existence becomes very simple and you only have one thing to think about. It is very real, and brings out an almost primal instinct in you to save a loved one. Your confidence grows and you do the right thing naturally.

The downside to this type of event, and I feel I must give you a balanced view, is that after the initial shock is over, one has time to contemplate on all of life’s mysteries. This is when it is hard to remain completely positive. But it was not as bad this time around.

We will continue to go to the ABC Group, as they are known, and continue to help others that need it. It is something that I would probably have never been involved with if my life had not taken this route, but now it has and I have accepted it, I am happy with it. I also want to be involved with fundraising, and any other way that I can give my time to helping others. I am in a fortunate position, but it will only be realised if I do something with it. I have one friend that went to Romania to help with the orphan situation, another that teaches less fortunate children maths in his lunchtime, and another that gave football training to Down syndrome kids. The most that I have ever contributed is a bit of money that I could afford to give away. I think these people are inspirational and I want to be a bit more like that.

Anyway, it is all good at the moment, and hopefully I will not leave it so long before my next update. Happy Days!!