FRIENDSHIP!

Dylan.... Pointing the way to new hope!

 

As always, I just want to say a big thank you for popping in, to have a read of my modest blog. I always think it`s such a wonderful thing, that you take the time to have a look at what I`v been up to. So hard to believe, it was just two weeks ago that we took a walk together. The woods were painted heavy & thick with crisp snow on that day. A cold icy easterly wind howling through the trees, ensuring i pulled my collar up as high as it would go. What a diference just two weeks can make. Hardly a carpet of colourful early Spring flowers, but certainly the definate signs that the long wait may be coming to an end. The light surely at the end of winter`s tunnel.

Almost a blank canvas.. Ready & waiting for Spring to burst through, at last!

 

With the snow now a fast fading memory, the earth, although a mixture of greys & greens, will before long, be a sea of snowdrops, daffodils, & bluebells. These were my thoughts as i tossed a handy looking stick for Dylan to chase. I always think there`s something comforting & reasuring about nature, & the fact that although much in life can change, nature always proves her dependability & loyalty, year after year. Like a good friend I thought, always there, sometimes harsh, sometimes kind, but always beautiful, & always there. Mmm.... Makes me stop for a second to survey her majesty & grace, whilst i find my mind turning to `friendship`.. More spacifically, what does friendship, real friendship that is, truly mean?

A burnt out tree trunk, & a `homemade` tree swing.

 

Accepting your friend, whatever they look like, or feel like on a particular day, or time in their life? Yer, i go along with that. Seeing the beauty in your friend, even when their ow life-problems sometimes blinds them to their own beauty? Yep, that too! In other words, taking Mother Nature`s own lead in being eternally loyal, accepting, & trustworthy? Without a doubt!

As we amble & ramble our way through the woods, we happen upon a burnt out tree tunk, now the `secret` den of some local kids, who have somehow climbed an in climbable looking tree, & hung a pretty strong looking tree swing, made of a length of rope & a small thick log. Memories of a playful childhood come flooding back to me. Happy carefree times, exploring, climbing, & yes, lighting fires too. Good clean boyish fun..... That is until one day my playful, boyish fire-lighting got a little `over-zealous`, causing a rather unfortunate encounter with the fire brigade. Another story, for perhaps another day... I could clearly remember though, how as a boy, we accepted our friends. We rarely judged or critisized them. We trusted them, & we would fight to the death, if they needed defending. That`s what made our friendships last i thought, & thats why their memories travel along with me `till this day.

Trees reach for the skies!

 

Nearing the end of our walk, Dylan slows his gallop & pants enthusiastically as only he can. I look up, & my gaze falls upon the biggest trees tretching skywards, almost as if they were craning, & reaching for the light. Perhaps has we all do, i thought. In my coldest, darkest moments, I`v often found myself `looking for the light`, only for that light to seem invisable or just, out of reach. Just maybe i thought, the trees have the answer.. If i only stop every now & again, & look skywards, i can see the light. It`s always there I thought, It`s just that sometimes I forget or chose, not to look up. Nice to have that reasurance as we make our way home, to prepare for yet another week.. Another, blank canvas...

 

Thank you again, for walking with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EASTER.. NEW HOPE, OH & CHOCOLATE TOO!

                                 SPRING HAS SPRUNG.. HE CERTAINLY THINKS SO!

Hi, & a very happy Easter.. My very favourite time of the year, for so many reasons, & no not JUST for all the Easter Eggs, I tend to over indulge upon. For me, Easter has a unique & powerful meaning, a meaning lost on just about every other religious celebration of the year, including the all too commercial, over hyped Christmases, I feel I HAVE to enjoy. For me, Easter time brings with it a more natural, even spontanious sense of joy & optimism. A real feeling & belief, that a new life giving time is about to emerge from the darkness & cold of a seamingly never ending Winter. For me, Easter symbolizes that much fabled, light at the end of the tunnel. That often illusive seemingly unatainable, ray of hope.
                                     

EASTER`S BIGGEST GIFT... HOPE!

Of-course, we celebrate Easter, as this was the time Christ was risen, to return to the people bestowing his grace & light amongst us. Proving to us, that anything was indeed possible, even when we ourselves thought not. He proved to us, that life had after-all, real meaning & purpose. Real value. In effect, I believe Christ`s biggest, most precious gift he bestowed upon us by this miracle, was hope.  Hope, that whatever obsticles or traumors we faced, we would eventually & inevitable triumph over all, if we only believed in ourselves.. If indeed, we only had hope. Over 2000 years may well have now passed, but for me, this vivid gift of hope, is still just as powerful & purposeful as it was then. For me, it is beyond question, that hope is in fact more relevent & vital in 2013, than perhaps it was, even at that very first Easter. Certainly hope is JUST as vital. What a gift!

EASTER IN HOSPITAL.. BRINGING RENEWED HOPE, OH & CHOCOLATE!

 

If I cast my thoughts over my life, It is this hope that carried me though my darkest times. Time when my entire world was filled with blackness & despair. Hope was the only thing I had in those days, & I thank God, it was hope I refused to release. It was vital I kept it, & I did. I owe a great debt to hope, & am filled with a new happiness at Easter, that this precious hope is all around, just like the Easter Eggs, but far less fattening. You may be surprised when I tell you, I`m not a `religious-man`, I don`t go to church, & although I do pray, I do have my lapses too. I guess I do have my own beliefs & I do believe in God, as I understand him. My point is this.. Whether you are a `religious person` or not, hope is always there, it will always carry us through, & it never fades, unless we choose to let go of it. Pretty good this hope thing then isnt it!

 

Thank you so much for reading, & please do have a wonderful Easter.. One filled with hope!!!

 

 

 

JUST A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE!

Dramatic gateway, to wonderful winter walk!

 

Having just returned from a wonderful winter walk this morning, I thought to myself, wouldn`t it be perfect, if I shared it with all the fantastic friends & followers I`v been lucky enough to meet on Twitter. Namely you!

I guess I`v been tweeting recently about `acceptence`, & how it fits into my life, & due to my on-going recovery from the drink, how important acceptence really is to me.

Lets play Dad! Perfect day for fun, & enjoying life`s simple pleasures.. He certainly thinks so!

 

As we crunched our way through the freshly fallen snow, Dylan & I that is, I began to think more on this acceptence in my life, as I watched him skip & play as though he was the happiest little dog in the world. For him, this was the only moment in his life that mattered. Contently making the most of what has been for many, a truly awful spell of bad weather. The more I watched him playing, the more I began to believe he had much to teach me. I thought back to the bad old days of my alcohol addiction, & how I would find fault with everything in my life. People, places, & things... And YES the weather too. In summer it was `too warm`, & I would drink using the excuse, it was to `cool me down`. In winter it was `too cold`, so you guessed it, I would drink Whiskey, & lots of it, to `warm me up`. With hindsight, I can safely say I was at least warm, as my face hit the floor.. Small consolation indeed!

Sometimes, life is simply black & white!

 

So what of today? Here I was happy & satisfied with the simple pleasure of walking through the snowy woods on a sunny morning in March, with my little companion. Sober too! As if Dylan felt he had to make his point more forcefully (he knows me well),  he discovered a flat, airless blue scrap of plastic, that had once been some kind of ball in a past life, & began tossing it in the air, joyfully playing with all out excitement. He was doing it again.. He was making the most of what he had. He wasn`t indignant & bemoaning his `ball` was flat. He was accepting of the fact & determined to enjoy it whether or not. He was teaching me well! I could almost imagin him thinking, `your gona get this `acceptance` thing Dad, if it`s the last thing I do`!!

The moment I half expected Mr Attenborough popping up from behind a tree!

 

As we walked home pennies still dropping after our winter walk, I couldn`t help but think on some good things in my life, things to be truly grateful for. I was after-all fit & well enough to actually walk through the snowy woods today. I could do it, without being physically sick, or hungover, or in the depth of despair. Moreover, I actually loved it today.. And so my gratitude grew, as I thought more on my many many blessings. Today, I found peace & contentment. With the added bonus of filling my lungs with fresh air, & my mind with fresh thinking. Not a bad morning on the grand scale of things, I recon!

Hoped you enjoyed walking with me, thank you for dropping in!!!