How Lucky Am I?

“When we are no longer able to change a situation,
we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Victor Frankl, 1905-1997
Austrian Neurologist and Psychiatrist

I am  constantly amazed at the fortitude of my fellow bloggers.  When I read of the hardships and abuse many have suffered and overcome, I wonder at my luck of having been born into a loving and caring family and then having the good fortune to meet and marry my ‘Dashing-Young-Scotsman’ at an early age.

I tell people that I have lived a blessed life.  If you have read any of my earlier posts, you will see that I had a long and mostly happy life with my DYS; I have two children whom I love and whose support I can rely on and appreciate.

My family is rounded out by four strapping young grandsons all of whom seem pleased to see their Granma and offers of help are often forthcoming.

Of course, no life is perfect.  I left my family in the UK to follow my husband in his move up the corporate ladder which entailed us moving around the world.  My children therefore, missed out on the companionship of cousins that I had when growing up.  And they saw their grandparents on rare (bi annual) visits home.  So they were very much part of a nuclear family – the four of us in a world far removed from home.

I am also very lucky to have two sisters, one in London and one in Los Angeles.  Could we have landed any further apart even had we planned it?  While they are not within easy visiting distance we still are in regular contact by phone and now of course, the internet.  Aren’t we lucky to live in this technological age.

Mother and girls

Mother with her three daughters

There have of course been bad times in this long life of mine.  We lived in Montreal for a couple of years and I absolutely loathed it.  The French Separatists were very active and almost daily we heard of their actions against the English speaking population.  My children’s school was bombed and that coupled with the police going on strike, made the decision for us to leave and return to our adopted home, New Zealand.

This time we knew that it would be a permanent move and that family and friends in the Northern Hemisphere would see us only a rare trips home; but we made the decision in the knowledge that this was where we wanted to raise our children – on the beach in Takapuna, Auckland.  After a year my husband was transferred to Wellington, the capital city, but that’s another story.

I wrote about a time when I was in danger of losing my leg and a black day when I wanted to Stop the World, but my blackest day was 14 years ago when my Not So DYS died and the colour went out of my world for some time.  But living and moving on doesn’t come with a choice and so I am in the next phase of my life and most of the colour has returned.

So daily I give thanks for my life and know that I wouldn’t swap it for anyone else’s.  Oh yes of course, there are parts I would gladly change.  Those that are shared in this post and others but mostly I say thanks to god, the Universe or whatever power is above us for giving me this life.

And above all I thank my fellow bloggers for being so open about their lives, in all the ups and downs and for sharing with us how they have overcome.  In reading about their problems I have come to realise just how lucky I am.  This is their gift to me.  Thank you thank you!

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily.
The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.
Terri Guillemets
, U.S. quotation anthologist, 1973 –

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32 responses to “How Lucky Am I?

  1. Nice post, Judith. Always good to count your blessings and your upbeat attitude and cheerful posts are a blessing to us!

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  2. Great attitude, Judith. Would I change anything in my past life? No, because the outcome of all the unpleasant things has been good and positive, so if I changed just one tiny thing to avoid some heartache or pain, the rest of my life would have been different. I, too, have learnt to count my blessings.

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    • Thanks for the comment Ms Catterel. And you are so right – if I had changed one decision then perhaps I wouldn’t have the grandsons I now have or the friends I have. So I continue to count my blessings daily. 🙂

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  3. There should be initials for LotsofTears (LOT instead of LOL) Judith. Even though this post is awesome and your gratitude for a loving life is clear, it brought me to LOT, for the fear you faced about your leg and for the color you lost when you lost your dashing Scotsman and for the challenges you have faced over time. Thanks for sharing this intimate portrait of a lovely, strong woman.

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  4. Beautiful sentiments, Judith. Even though we may have bad moments in our lives or things we regret, it’s import an to take time to be grateful for all that we do have. I keep a gratitude journal for just that reason. It may sound a little corny, but it helps me to always be looking for something to thankful for.

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    • I learned a long time ago to count my blessings daily. And it seems the place for me to do this is in the shower. I can’t explain why there but it just is so. 🙂

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  5. An attitude of gratitude is the only way to live a meaningful and satisfying life. I applaud you for looking on the bright side and sharing this with us Judith. My Dad always said, “if you look around you’ll see someone else is worse off than you.” It was his way of teaching us not to feel sorry for ourselves.

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    • Oh yes Darlene, my father used to say the same sort of thing. No point in feeling sorry for yourself look around and see some other people worse off than you. And he used to tell us to go out and do something about whatever we were feeling down about. Good advice even today. 🙂

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  6. Lovely post, Judith. We all have darkness in our life but our attitude determines how we approach it and move beyond it. I hope I keep an attitude like yours throughout the trying times and appreciate all I have that is good.

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  7. We each have our journey and the best way to travel is lightly! I think it was Socrates who said “if all of humanity’s problems were placed in a heap, each would be content to take his own and depart”.

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  8. Good things happen to those who expect them too, and luck, I believe we make our own luck so although I only know you through your blog its no surprise to me at all that you are surrounded by both good things and good luck. 🙂

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    • Sallyann – what a lovely thing to say. And while we only know each other through our blogs, I count you as one of my friends and count myself lucky to have you in my life (even if it is only in the blogosphere). 🙂

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  9. That could not have been easy, moving several times, and always further away from family. Yes, we are blessed to have the internet, the ability to text, and many more ways of keeping in touch.

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    • It is so much easier now than way back in 1967 when we started this peripatetic life our ours. it is now easy to keep in touch with family and friends around the world. And of course, we have the blogosphere too. 🙂

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  10. Christine in Los Angeles

    D’you remember Grandma would say “somewhere, someone’s dying at sea, and they’d be glad of your problems” (Something to that effect) when we’d complain about our (generally minor) problems.
    God bless, Christine

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    • Yes and I remember Dad saying ‘Try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes” or words to that effect. Did you read the Socrates quote from Joss above. How true is that. Love you big sister. 🙂

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  11. Christine in Los Angeles

    And, oh, that photo’s one of my favourites, from when we were all together. A tough time for our Mum, raising her girls during WWII, but I think that photo was sent to our Dad?

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  12. Thanks for stopping by to like a couple of my posts! Cheers!

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    • I am currently catching up on posts that somehow I missed before – they have only today landed in my inbox – hence so many being read at one time. 🙂

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  14. Marianne London UK

    Oh that lovely photo I have the original on my wall in the living room, I see it every day. I loved your Dashing Scotsman he was lovely. We were very lucky to have our Mum & Dad we were always loved. Because of them you Christine and me were always able to love our families. Yes I think you have had a lovely life, in fact I think all three of us are doing great.

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    • Hi small sister and thanks for the comment. Yes we are all three of us lucky and I continue to count you and Christine among my blessings each day. XX

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  15. there are many wrongs with this world and we must challenge ourselves to keep working to change that.. changes are challenges. But each morning we wake up new and begin a whole new day with hopes to have a better day and in turn make someone else’s day better.. ❤

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  16. Pingback: How Lucky a I? | I choose how I will spend the rest of my life

  17. Pingback: How Lucky Am I? | I choose how I will spend the rest of my life

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