Over these last few days I’ve felt the world’s heart beat…

Sometimes I find myself reflecting on those negative aspect of life that seem to throw obstacles in my path as it naturally inclines towards personal enjoyment, betterment and general self-interest. But mostly I like to be positive and try to get on with life whilst, attempting at least, to view the challenges that come my way as opportunities for further personal improvement. Mostly I succeed in being positive with the help of a daily dose of Vitamin D and an eagerness to hold the right ethical attitudes in life.

There are times when I reflect on how absolutely blessed I am to have the love of my family and the opportunity to show my love for them in turn. There are people in this world that are fighting for survival and who would have looked with astonishment at the dinner that my wife and I were able to present to the family this afternoon. I reflect with humility on all the starving in the world and sincerely hope their plight gets better. We have food to excess, warmth, our health and above all we are free from the perils and dangers of life that assail others in places like Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations ravaged by conflict.

I’m able to look into the eyes of my wife and see real beauty. It meant so much to me today to see her happy and radiate the warmth of love. I also saw with pride this morning what fine people our children are growing up to be. My eldest son gave almost his last penny to the family as a present and brought me to tears. I hope that one day he sees the real nature of the present that he gave to me this morning. It wasn’t the money it was the gift of knowing that he is the man that he was destined to become. He has grown into a thoughtful man who has the potential to beat life at its own game. I am so proud of all my children equally and thank them all for the many individual lessons that they continually teach me about life and love.

Life on occasions also presents an opportunity to realise how little one knows of human pain, fear, deprivation and how with an open mind you can learn so much more about the world and its workings. I went to a party a couple of days ago and met two really interesting and very warm people who had family connections in Syria. The wife was contemplating making a journey to her home country in order to see her parents. She has had to emotionally grapple with the horrors of human conflict first hand and has made the difficult decision to meet head on the dangers of war because of the strength of love that she has for her family. Her husband will stay here in the UK and look after the children. Her bravery and above all her passion for family and world politics was very inspiring. His bravery in support of his wife’s urge to see her family was an example of great human love and warmth. Again I was blessed with an opportunity to see the world and its workings through the eyes of another and in turn to see with a bit more clarity myself. It was a rare opportunity to discern the world as it potentially really is and not how we are encouraged to believe it to be through the media. I wish them well.

On the back of this chance meeting I have started to read more broadly on world politics and in particular have found the Qatar based Al Jazeera website to be rather informative as it depicts a world view other than that presented via the UK press.

How similar the Peoples of the world are when it comes to their families. The love of a parent for a child is universal and transcends boarders, cultures and religions. I have been reminded family’s value family and the support that the family unit provides is so very valuable to human well-being.