the good life

Sometimes in this maddening world we need to take a moment and breathe. A moment to exhale. To realise all that we have and be grateful for it. So take a moment. Give yourself a moment to look around you and see, really see the good stuff.

I've noticed recently that my 'good stuff' is rarely, if ever, anything bought. It includes being able to enjoy early morning walks with the dogs before the day gets so busy that I feel in a spin. It includes those tight knock-me-down hugs from the boys as I come in the door from work. It includes the absolute joy of sitting by the fireside on a cold and blustery night and knowing that all my loved ones are safe- maybe tucked up in pyjamas listening to their bedtime story (The Animals of Farthing Wood at the minute), maybe already in bed or maybe trying to avoid the inevitable bedtime curfew. It includes the laughter at the dinner table. Or the making of the early morning porridge. Or a snatched moment of reading.

We're about to head into the Christmas season and it's worth remembering among all that tinsel and glitter that it is just that- tinsel and glitter- it's not what's important in life. I nearly always get carried away, swept away by the commercial madness of it all. This year will be different though. Times are tough and we have to be careful. So we will be simplifying things, appreciating what we already have rather than wishing for more.