The benefits of embracing the good times

A few years ago I was in a situation I really couldn't escape from, working 14 hour days and close to exhaustion.  When I got time off I wouldn't do anything as it made the time off go too quickly and so we hibernated for almost six years.  I had an end date for this situation so spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself and wishing that end date would come.  This year I've once again found myself in a situation I can't escape from and I know there is an end date (although the precise day is unspecified) but this time instead of hiding away and wishing the end would come I've begun to embrace what's happening, learn from it and use what I'm learning to make things better.  Instead of hiding away from the world I meet friends and have had so many lunches out I'm actually psyching myself up to do the 'Couch to 5k' programme before I end up the size of a house.  These lunches and catch-ups have been brilliant not only for making sure I keep up with the outside world but also for making me realise I do not have a monopoly on life's difficulties.  Almost everyone I know has some rubbish or other going on.  No one's life goes to plan and I'm discovering rapidly that we need to make the most of opportunities before time runs out.  Today the sun is shining, Ash and Jake have gone out, cameras slung round necks, dog bounding ahead and smiles on their faces while I have the house to myself for a couple of hours and a feeling that life could be so much worse.  The moral here is to search for the good times and, if you think they're hard to find, create them yourself.

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