'I love my life!'
That's what she says out of the blue. We battle arm in arm against the wind and rain struggling to shelter under a huge, unwieldy golfing umbrella; yet another dreich day during our Easter break.
'I don’t know why I said that,' she giggles quickly.
'Why do you love it?' I ask, genuinely curious by the question and the answer.
'Because, I have friends and places to go and visit. Lots of people don’t have that… or have enough food,' she replies matter of factly from her muffled hood.
I had just told her that it was very likely that our ferry to Lewis would get cancelled at the weekend. A storm perfectly timed to disrupt our visit. I’m trying to sow the seeds to lessen the inevitable disappointment. The positive, upbeat comment about her life was an unexpected, pleasant surprise. She’s 11 years old so perhaps that explains it, although it could simply be the general optimism and positivity and hope she inherited from me.
We were heading to her school friend’s house, topping off a lovely day out in Glasgow, despite the continuous drizzle. No arguments or grumblings from either of us… for a change.
I drop her off and continue along the road towards home. Her comment stays with me. 'I love my life.'
How many of us genuinely say we love our lives? We can so easily get bogged down with life; caught up in so many issues and worries around work, relationships, money and relentless negative media.
When she’s 12 I hope she still says, 'I love my life!' And when she’s 13, 14, 15 and every year throughout her life.
What do we hope for from our lives? A friendly place to live? A nice home? A good job? Enough money to cover the bills? We all hope for those things, and more. If we don’t get those things we desire, what do we hope for? What keeps us going?
I live in hope.
I hope to stay well.
I hope for health and happiness for me and those I know and love.
I hope to say “I love my life” and truly mean it.
I hope that two weeks of continuous, dismal rain in the Easter holidays will promise a beautiful, sunny warm summer. However, as hopeful as I am, I am also realistic. This is Scotland and even at the height of summer there will always be a cagoule or umbrella close at hand. And just as I finish this ramble, I’m sure that’s sunshine I spy peeking through those clouds… I hope.