Life can, at times, deal you a pretty bad hand and the people I admire most are those who get with their lives and make the best of whatever cards they’ve actually been dealt; the vast majority, in fact. People like Doreen and Bill, my dad’s youngest sister and her husband who rescued me as a nine year old and, for five years gave me some semblance of family live. So much so that, nearly 70 years later, their values are still the template for my life and, as such, ones I try to live by.
Now the beauty of such a template is that is that it provides something against which I am able to judge things on a day to day basis. Like others, I don’t always make the best job of it but I do try. My wife, Gaynor, is very similar and that may be one of the reasons why our relationship is such a strong one. So, perhaps, in an effort to be not too self aggrandising, I can spell out what it is that I like about the people I’ve mentioned and why their actions are important.
Well, like others that I know, they did (or do) the right thing without too much consideration of the personal cost. In Bill and Doreen’s case, despite not having a great deal of money, they took in someone else’s child because they couldn’t sit back and not do that. A reflection of Doreen’s view that you should “Do what you think is right and you’ll get your rewards”. Now my wife isn’t as blunt as Doreen could be, however, she certainly lives by Doreen’s maxim as well as being honest to a fault and loyal, while doing more than her bit in acting as the magnet that brings people together. All qualities that are demonstrated by their practical application in her working and personal life.
Which, in my usual round about way, brings me to my point, which is that, like Barack Obama and millions of others, I believe that you should be judged, not by how much wealth you have, but by how much you help others, how much you contribute. More caring and sharing, in fact, and less “Sod you, Jack”. It seems to me that using humanity’s virtues as the oil in its engine will make for a considerably better society than one which uses it vices of greed and avarice. At which point, I will cease pontificating and get back to work. Although not before saying a thank you to all those who try to do the right thing, and, in doing so, make the world a better place. Your reward, of course, is in doing just that.