As you wander through a day there seems to be so many events and things happening that spark thoughts. I guess we are all affected in some ways by what is happening in the world and in our local area. Some people think deeply about what is going on but others are almost secretly affected.
Obviously anything to do with money and finances, anything to do with work and roads and travel affects us. But as you get older you realise that there are so many other things that can make it a good day or a bad day.
Some wonderful people rarely have bad days because they have an optimistic outlook on life. Others struggle through blackness and pessimism. I find myself somewhere in the middle, fluctuation in my moods depending on what is happening.
And in our modern world we crave things happening because of the disposable society in which we live. We are so used to change that we become concerned and agitated when it doesn’t happen. This can lead to a feeling of boredom and even sadness and also lead to us hunting for things in areas alien to us.
I hold diplomas in both life coaching and sports psychology, so have been trained in a small way to understand how and why an individual acts and how to improve their lives through positive thinking, which isn’t always easy. Before you can teach somebody to be positive you have to strip away the negativity. Of course it is always easier to be positive when things are going right but less easy when they aren’t and it’s when things are going wrong that positivity is needed the most. It’s a definite Catch 22 situation.
For many years I served as a Samaritan helper – a kind of shady world where you aren’t allowed to tell people what you do in your spare time. I actually quite enjoyed the cloak and dagger stuff of sloping off to the centre in Norwich for my weekly duty, often staying out all night and trying to catch some sleep at the centre between phone calls.
It was a wonderful experience and one I will always treasure. Samaritans is a unique organisation as it is there to listen, never to judge, but to help through quiet reflection. Sometimes this can be very demanding, but essentially the idea is to get people to reflect and find their own path through their problems and troubles. In the same way life coaching is about getting people to set themselves achievable goals. The goals have to be realistic and positive. Sports psychology isn’t a million miles away either. It teaches a person to perform to the top of their ability while being focused.
What I learnt above all other things in these matters is that a positive attitude can see you through most things and also have a huge affect on your health and well being, not to mention happiness. Being positive and optimistic isn’t a cop out, it is almost a statement of intent about your life. It can come over as being uncaring, however, and it can also anger others when you refuse to get angry over situations that infuriate them.
In general, however, being positive is a very good thing, If you aren’t a positive person by nature try taking a course in life coaching. Believe me it will help you to put things in perspective.
I didn’t mean to start this blog with the above, but, as usual, as soon as I started writing the words just flowed. That’s the power of the written word.
So what else shall we cover today?
How about the trial of Anders Breivik in Oslo – the man accused of killing 77 young people. Does he have the right to a trial and does he have the right to churn out his ultra right views?
This is a tough one. Yes everyone has the right to a trial but there are two schools of thought as to whether he has the right to explain himself through views that are by and large inhuman. Add to this the fact that the man is quite obviously insane and it’s a difficult mix. On the one hand do we really want to hear the hatred and rubbish coming out of his mouth but on the other do we want to understand in some small way why he carried out these atrocities in such a usually peaceful city?
One of the survivors surprisingly advocated allowing him to speak in order to help their understanding of the situation. I say that if it helps this one person to get some peace from the trauma then it is worthwhile. What we don’t want to hear is a garbled account of fascist groups that quite obviously only exist in Breivik’s imagination and above all what we don’t want to hear is medical evidence that Breivik has some kind of syndrome which might excuse his behaviour. He probably suffers from MBS – Murdering Bastard Syndrome.
Interesting situation in our village yesterday. We currently have a hosepipe ban in force due to severe drought conditions which seems strange as it has rained non stop for days on end. It is also strange that our area is sending water to other parts of the country that don’t have a hosepipe ban. I have it on good authority that there was a major water leak due to a burst pipe in the village. I am reliably told that it took Anglian Water many hours to repair it whilst water shot out at an alarming rate. What a waste.
ILowestoft, Norwich, Cromer and Beccles. There is an archive of British newspapers but I cannot trace any on which I worked. Maybe someday my stories will be available thus making a lie of the old saying that today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper. I would prefer to say that today’s news is tomorrow’s history. That’s the primary reason I cover the village for various newspapers and web sites. I want to leave a record of what Hethersett is/was like in the early years of the 21st Century.
Heard about a scam yesterday that is a bit naughty rather than being downright criminal. Obtaining an European Health Insurance Card is free. You can get them through the official National Health Service web site. Many people are being taken in, however, by web sites offering to provide a service for obtaining the cards. These sites usually charge between £10 and £15 and many state that the charge is to cover administration costs. What they will say is that they are fully checking applications to ensure they meet the necessary criteria. What of course they are doing is making money under false pretences, leaving people totally unaware that this is a free service that only requires the filling in of a form which is available both on-line and from post offices.
Yesterday I touched on the subject of fare prices etc. It always seems potty to me that people on trains, aircraft and buses making the same journey have all probably paid different prices for their travel.
Some people pay full price whilst others spend a little time searching out bargains on the Internet and saving themselves money. Nowhere is this more obvious than on trains. I spend time searching through tickets on trainline.com and there are some bargains to be had if you are flexible. It does throw up some anomalies as well. Over the past couple of years I have regularly
- Bought two single tickets which turn out to be much cheaper than a return
- Travelled first class which has been cheaper than travelling second class and, my particular favourite:
- Travelled on a ticket with two parts to the journey and only undertaken the first part.
The final of these points needs some explaining. The journey I wanted to take was from Norwich to London. I found that a journey from Norwich to Southampton via London was actually cheaper. So I bought the tickets and just didn’t do the London to Southampton bit of the journey. Next time you want to use public transport try fiddling around on the Internet, you could save yourself a considerable amount of money.
This morning I have been down to Woodside Infant and Nursery School to take pictures of their Paralympic themed day where youngsters experienced what it is like to play sports such as goal ball and boccia. The pupils also learnt about Paralympic Games – another excellent village event.
Tonight we launch the new Hethersett social running club. The forecast for this afternoon is for hail and thunder. Let’s hope it is all over before this evening. Will report on how it went tomorrow.
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