You can make a difference.

 We all have choices to make from the moment we wake up to when we lay our head on the pillow at night. Sometimes the choice is just not right, and we just have to live with it, there are times when it’s just the opposite and we feel great.

How simple is this?

As I have said we now take full advantage of our bus passes and the drivers set the tone of our journey into town, OK so it’s only 10 minutes but to be welcomed aboard with a smiling face and greeted by passengers already on board is great. Like a pebble thrown into a pond, the ripples spread outwards, and you just don’t know how far they reach, that smile or hello can make a difference to someone.

All things bright and beautiful

It costs nothing at all to smile or say hello, and making the effort even if we are not feeling 100% will lift your spirits as well.

It doesn't take much to make me smile.

.

I spent a long time in the retail sector during my working life selling everything from gentlemen's clothing to vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and cycles to high-end garden furniture BBQs and all things gardening.      It was so nice then when we went into a small independent shop and received a warm welcome from a delightful assistant who was so helpful over such a small problem we had, the staff went above and beyond to help.

The sheer beauty of colour.

The other side of the coin happened when we went into a large store where the assistant was more interested in talking to a colleague than serving us, need I say more?

Hello pussycat.

We have all heard it said many times I’m sure “We are living in uncertain times” and we sure are. But I am reminded of a very old children’s hymn we sang in primary school or Sunday school. Written in 1881 “Jesus bids us shine” The last verse goes,

Jesus bids us shine, then for all around

Many kinds of darkness in this world abound:

Sin and want and sorrow-- we must shine,

You in your small corner, and I in mine.

Simple words, and no matter what you do or do not believe, we can all make a difference in the circle of influence we move in. No one can make you, the choice is yours.

I'm not letting the grass grow under my feet

The next step

Sometimes it's difficult to find your way

 

The phrase I have heard the most in the leadup to this general election has been I don't know I don't know. And many of us have been confused as to which way to vote. If you are tired of it all like me, let me share some ways I cope with life in general.

It's a long and winding road

As a Christian, the first thing I do is commit my day to God and this gives me peace. that said it certainly does not exclude me from everyday life, the ups and downs we all have to face good times come and go bills still have to be paid etc and life has to go on.

And no one knows what is around the corner

 

    So in coping with a completely different lifestyle, to the one we led in Latvia, I needed to be active in some way or another. 

     Shortly after returning to the UK, I met a friend who introduced me to a charity called Tools for Self-reliance (  www.tfsr.org  )with a local workshop where old donated tools are given a complete refurbishment and he asked if I would like to join. After my first visit, I was hooked,

Before

After

  We are a group of men with an average age of 75ish  all with different backgrounds and interests ranging from Archeology to nature, gardening to walking. Meeting just for a few hours a week we can share things that have caught our attention during the week. We all of course could put the world to right, and during our coffee break, we often do. 

Large or small with a bit of TLC
most things can be refurbished.

Some electrical items are stripped,
refurbished tested and given another
life.

The saying goes one man's trash is another's treasure and in a world where if it's broken throw it away and buy another it gives me a great deal of satisfaction to take something from the scrap heap and with some TLC refurbish it and return it to usefulness.

One of my colleagues 
busy at his bench.


So there we have it, just one of the ways I fill my week, next time I hope to share others.