Monday 14 April 2014

THE ROAD AT THE SIDE OF THE CLIFF

Firstly, can I thank all of you that read my blog. When I started it, I never knew there would be so much interest and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support.
Now to this week's blog - "The Road At The Side Of The Cliff". A strange title, you may think, but I will expand on this later.
As I write this, I am watching the start of the London Marathon on the television. It has always evoked a lot of emotion in me ever since the first one all those years ago. I have always wanted to run a marathon, even though there have been days I could hardly walk. Still, you never know, maybe one day!
How my life has changed since that first London Marathon back in 1981. What a difference the years make. In spite of all the down times, the struggles, the fights to survive there have thankfully been so many, many happy memories.
I was thinking as I watched the runners line up what the atmosphere there must be like. I was very proud of my son-in-law when he ran it a couple of years ago. If I remember, he wasn't too happy with his finishing time, but he trained and did it and I was lucky enough to see him on the TV and I was so thrilled.
As I sit here, I think wouldn't it be wonderful if we could bottle up good feelings like that for times of trouble. All those good feelings we have when we go to a good music gig, when we see our team win, when we fall in love, when we get married, the birth of a child, their first day at school, the school concert, graduation, your child's wedding, the arrival of a grandchild - the list goes on and on.
If we could keep those various feelings in jars, just to have a taste now and again at the moments when we need them. 
That's why memories are so important, so precious, even if at the time they didn't always seem that good.
Which brings me back to "The Road At The Side Of The Cliff".
Back on my first visit to India in 1980, we went up, by bus, into the mountains to stay with relatives of relatives. Part of the journey was on a narrow road that had literally been cut out of the side of a very high cliff and way, way down below was a fast running river. The road was almost a single track with passing points cut out of the mountainside in case someone was coming the other way. At one point the road was so bad that everyone - including the bus conductor - got off. However, my ex husband insisted that I stayed on the bus because it would look good on the home video he was making. So in the end it was just me and the driver left on the bus. That could have been the end then and there, but Indian drivers are some of the best in the world when it comes to driving buses, jeeps, motor scooters, tractors etc. If you have been there you will know what I mean :). At the time I was terrified and upset that I was made to do this, but now I look back at that memory with fondness. It was something I did even though I didn't want to.
The point I think I am trying to make is that sometimes we do not like what we have to do, especially if, like me, we don't like being told what to do, even though it can turn out to be for the best.
Sometimes, to push ourselves just that little bit can lead to us feeling so much better and confident, maybe not at the time, but further down the line.  It is these memories that make us feel so much better and help us on those down days.
Life is short and we must always try to make the best of what we have and enjoy every moment we can to fill up our "feeling jars".
And you never know, one day I might just run across that finishing line.
Oh, and before I finish, "Change For Life" is still going well. Sixteen weeks completed and a loss of 41 and a half pounds! Now where did I put those running shoes?

2 comments:

  1. Well done on those pounds - very impressive number!!!

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  2. Thank you. Thats very kind of you. Hopefully as time goes by that number will go up. Always nice to hear a positive comment.

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