Well done London. Well done indeed.

Let me take you to a place ... you know when you are relaxing near a camp fire, wearing long sleeves out in the wilderness far enough to not see city lights, at the end of summer when the air is warm, but the chill of Fall is coming up close, biting from behind ... yes, ok, that's it.

You're telling stories, the stars are out in the clear black sky, the coals are low enough to not be roaring, but glow that gorgeous orange ... hot dogs/marshmallows on a stick ...

Ok, now that you're there ... you're not.  The air and the night are the same, the smell of Summer's end surrounds, but you are actually in your flat in London, stretching the beautiful kelp green scarf made of Swedish yarn you finished lounging in the warm sun today ... and in the distance you hear - your eyes widen and you hear - the joyous, perpetual fire, thunderous pride bellowing out the resistant joy to close the absolute final ending of the London 2012 Olympics.  So nearby you can literally feel it.

The pops and bangs and echoes go on for minutes and it dawns on you that this moment is one of those unique times when mankind unites in a unanimous high five ... "we did this, you're awesome, I swear I'm going to work out more, people's lives were changed, and we are all better because of it". Yes!

But, please, pleeeeease do not look me in the eye tomorrow as we all pretend to read our papers or smartphones on the tube, because, well, that would just be awkward.

Well done London.  Well done indeed.

Constant Gratitude

I have a little bit of a pet peeve with complaining, which is ironic since I now live in the culture notorious for "groaning".  I am definitely not perfect here and am excluding cases where expressing grief is healthy, but when I hear mundane moaning about how hot it is, how cold it is, how busy they are, how bored they are, how so-and-so isn't doing things their way, I want this, I hate that ... I am often thinking in my head, "you'd be a lot happier if you focused on the good in your life and can we change the subject to something more optimistic before I say this out loud?"

Knock on wood most people I regularly have contact with have it pretty good, and after an evening at the Paralympics this weekend I am certain we have nothing to groan about.  Watching these Olympians, after enduring what could only be horrific experiences, recover physically, rehabilitate mentally, overcome public humiliation, and summons the strength within to train for years to become the strongest, fastest in their class is a very humbling experience.

I had a ticket to the Track & Field event and witnessed men and women from around the world, young and old, some mentally challenged or blind, some missing limbs, and most requiring the assistance of several others to compete in sport ... sport that I am sure in many cases saved their lives from severe depression or worse.

It takes constant awareness to see the blessing in every moment, good and bad.  Yes, no matter how good we have it, we still go through good moods and bad, get crabby and annoyed, and want for more (seems it is human nature to always want for more) ... and it is at these times I will do my best to switch my thoughts around to review all the fortune and joy in my life and consider in that moment the impression these Olympians left on me and the promise they provided  - that no matter how bad it can get optimism and the human sprirt can overcome as long as you keep your focus on the good things in life, no matter how small they seem.