Sometimes life can be difficult. However, as a good friend of mine used to tell me, “Mike, it beats the alternative”. Which is does, in abundance. At which point, my favourite T shirt slogan comes to mind; it read, “Remember, above the clouds, the sun is always shining”. As, indeed, it is. The problem is that, on those miserable, damp November evenings which I dislike so much, it can be difficult to believe that. Which is where another of my pet sayings comes in useful. This one is that, for many of us, perception can be more real than fact. That doesn’t, however, make it so.
So the mini crisis of Saturday is behind me, someone is coming around today to sort out another problem with the building, Spurs performed commendably over the old enemy yesterday. I have a meeting later to move one of my projects forward, an application is ready to, possibly, fund another, my lovely wife is starting to get in some teaching work from voluntary organisations and our daughter is due home this evening. I also spoke to my eldest children over the weekend and that always cheers me up no end.
So, I force that little smile inside and get down to it, strengthened by the thought that how things affect us personally can be worse than the reality of what is actually happening at the time. It’s that line from a Stevie Nicks song, “Take on the situation not the torment”. At which point I remember that it’s six weeks to Xmas, a time I really enjoy, after which the promise of Spring beckons. I also remember that I still have much to do in life and that it won’t get done if I sit around and mope. Now I’m pretty sure that there’s a song somewhere with that line in it.