A bit of overthinking and triteness here but I can happily live without luxuries of the consumer kind.
Breathing you will say is not a luxury, it’s as natural as night follows day. But when the ability to do it properly is removed, it becomes a luxury.
Asthma inhalers (Internet)
As a kid I struggled with endless breathing issues and chest infections. Bronchitis has featured heavily in my life along with Asthma and they still haunt me to this very day. In fact over recent months I’ve noticed a quite dramatic decline in my ability to control the condition, as well as other unknown symptoms creeping in. But I’ll hopefully get that looked at when I have my yearly asthma review on Tuesday.
There is nothing quite like being able to get your lungs full of fresh air and not be constantly fighting to catch your breath. But that hasn’t happened for a long time and I miss that.
I’ve never smoked but my parents were chain smokers so I guess I was a passive smoker from an early age. I personally hold them both to blame for what I have suffered over the years, and that is why i hate smoking with a passion. I had to watch my brother die from Lung cancer and that wasn’t pretty, it was horrendous. He was a smoker.
So for me breathing is a luxury that I can’t live without, yes I know you are saying that’s the same for us all – you fool! And you’d be right of course. But for me it is the quality of good unhindered breathing I miss, and that’s a luxury I’m probably never going to experience again.
Don’t poison yourself people, your body doesn’t require it, and you will definitely regret it in later life.
Enjoy that deep satisfying breath of fresh air. It really is an indication that life is good for you if you can.
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
In my honest opinion this is truly an individual choice. However I can only speak for myself when I answer this question.
Enjoy the journey (internet)
What is the good life? Do we refer back to the old tv sitcom of the 70s with Richard Briers and Penelope Keith, when the good life was living off the land and being totally self dependent? Or is it something else?
In modern society I suspect it is something else, even though many would long to have a similar simple existence as the “Goodes” did back then.
Realistically, that life is not attainable by all so we have to resort to what we individually class as the good life. To have a good life and what I personally would class as the good life, there are a few aspects of our own demeanours that we have to make changes to.
Now I don’t have what I’d call the good life, I have a pretty good life and I’m happy with that. I’d imagine the Good life in truth contains a number, if not all of the following, that we strive to achieve on a daily basis but may not be fully versed in just yet:
Financial security
Job security
A steady relationship
A loving family
The freedom to travel
A good attitude
Humility
Kindness
Compassion
Understanding
We are all probably able to say we are fully conversant in a number of these aspects, however we are more than likely striving to attain these goals rather than exercising them on a daily basis. Just looking at these myself I can see where I fall down, and what I need to do to attain a fully “Good life” but a number of factors will probably step in and stop me ever achieving that.
So I guess I’ll just have to be content with achieving my “Best life” and be satisfied with that. And you know what? I’m content with that choice, as I’m sure many others will similarly be.
I spend most of the time with my work colleagues to be honest. Well. Truthfully it’s probably even Steven’s between them and my wife and dog, though it does sometimes feel that I’m more at work than home.
As I can’t show any work pictures on here, please enjoy this delectable little YouTube short of my dog wishing you a happy day.
From Series 9 Episode 26 broadcast on 29/07/15 The Barrister is on fine form but will Hayley and Dave be able to walk away with £7,000?
The Chase
I was just looking around what’s on my YouTube channel and to be honest there’s not a great deal. However I saw this little nugget of Tv gold and thought I’d share it with you.
Me – on the Chase
Yep that’s me almost 9 years ago when I had most of my faculties about me, what went wrong?
I had my hour of fame to be honest and in the end myself and Hayley came away with a win. My share went towards a kitchen we were installing at the time and I believe Hayley, who was a student nurse at the time was going to put it towards her first car.
Me with Sean Wallace – The Chase
Sean Wallace the chaser was a lovely guy. Nothing like his tv persona, he came and met up with us after filming and was a right charmer. I have met him since travelling on the Bakerloo underground line as I believe he used to live in and around the Willesden area in London.
Perhaps I need to get one of those “I beat the chaser” tee shirts.
It was a fun day and created a lot of good memories.
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
See this is what I’m getting at, the prompt from yesterday was not much different from this one for today. The guy that does the prompts at WordPress must be getting right bored.
Cockleshell heroes
Anyway, just as well I read a lot as a youngster. One of my favourite books I read as a youngster was the Cockleshell Heroes by C.E Lucas Philips. This book was published in 1956 about 9 years before I arrived on the scene.
I was a bi product of that period post wartime when the big rebuild of the country and the economy was starting to kick start. As a kid it was all war films and war comics so it was only natural to read war book’s wasn’t it?
It’s another book that I’ve read more than once and as a youngster it’s sheer excitement and intrigue kept me engrossed from cover to cover.
I hope tomorrow’s prompt is another subject, I quite fancy “What did you eat yesterday?”, for a change. (Only joking 🙃)
Anyway have a darned nice day and enjoy the sun if you are fortunate enough to see it.
Yes I’ve just had one of those moments, a silly one I guess. It confounds me how this Blog machine gets its viewing stats, and in a moment of madness I thought I’d just test out how far a stupid blog post actually goes so here it is.
A random battery terminal
This is about my level of silliness at this current moment. A random car battery terminal.
List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?
Cosmos – Carl Sagan
Cider with Rosie – Laurie Lee
The bitter lemons of Cyprus – Lawrence Durrell
I was a kid of the sixties, one of Apollos children as I lived through those heady days of the space race. Carl Sagan was one of those superb teachers that could bring a highly complex scientific process down to a level every one could understand and there haven’t been that many people who have followed him who can do the same. I have read the book and watched the series many times, I’m sure I will do the same soon.
I love Laurie Lees ability to be able to teleport you into his life as a child growing up in the country. I first read this book at school and then read it again about 30 years later. The things you notice in this book as an adult against what you read as a child shows how much our knowledge and attention grows as you mature. It’s a go to holiday read for me as it’s one of those comfortable books. His other books about the Spanish civil war are also very well written and insightful.
I love Cyprus and everything about it. This book by Lawrence Durrell gives a fascinating insight into the old ways of the island pre-invasion, as he travels around documenting the many people and ways of the island. I must have read this book a good six times now and I never tire of it. I suspect number seven will be coming up very soon.
I’ve deviated from the usual WordPress daily prompt, as today just like many other days they seem very much the same.
Alf in his favourite look out position
Today I have decided to write about things that put a smile on your face, and today at just before 6am this morning I had an incident that made me smile. For the reader you will probably be thinking what the heck is he getting all excited about, however for me it means a lot more, there is a story behind it all so let me bring you up to speed.
I have owned dogs pretty much all my life, in our 33 years of marriage we have had 3 dogs all of the same breed a Bichon Frise.
Our latest incarnation, the little fellah that has been with us for 11 years so far is Alfie, a right little sweetheart who I can honestly say has never growled at anyone in all the time we have had him, I don’t think he knows how to.
Anyway Alf has an autoimmune disease that means his skin is trying to kill him, it’s an affliction called Sebaceous Addenitis, He is on tablets that do the same as organ rejection tablets do for humans, quite nasty little packages that have to be handled with care. He also has tumours around his rear end that need daily dressing and cleansing. He’s not well bless him, but he still shows us a wagging tail, and that really pleases me.
Anyway Alf has deteriorated quite swiftly over the last couple of years, he’s gone from a dog that loved to walk miles to one that just goes out the door to do his business, we are lucky if a walk now stretches to ten minutes when we used to be out hours.
I do shift work and when I’m on a night shift I’m usually arriving home sometime just after 05:30 in the morning. I used to love to come home, I’d know Alf would be waiting at the door and we’d go out for a lovely early morning walk, i absolutely loved these walks as they formed part of my routine and it was precious good time out with my companion.
However as Alf’s illness has progressed he’s no longer waiting at the door when I come in, he tends to be so tired and to be honest he rarely gets out of bed before 10am as he seems to sleep for the biggest portion of the day. I really miss our little early morning walks. I miss my lively little lad.
In fact both my wife and I have noticed we are not getting the exercise we used to but that’s another story.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I roll up onto the drive to see Alf sitting in his favourite place on top of the settee looking out the window. My immediate thought was “What’s wrong?” but my wife then puts my mind at ease by saying she got up early to put some washing out and Alf got up with her. I said that was strange as it’s far too early for him but he seemed so bright for a moment, so I asked him if he wanted a walk, so he went straight to the front door I put his lead on him and we did something we haven’t done for best part of a year. We had that early morning walk.
We didn’t go far, we probably managed 10 minutes, but do you know what, I felt like I’d won the lottery, I actually thanked him for the walk gave him a cuddle and told him how much I’d enjoyed it. For that brief moment I was the happiest man alive, strange isn’t it. The sad part is that this will probably be the last time we do this, but for me, for a brief moment early this morning I felt like the happiest man on the planet. Its made my day and made me appreciate all that I have. It’s those little things that matter.
Sorry to go on about it, it’s probably going to mean nothing to you the reader, but for me this is everything, and I had to write about it.
Have a wonderful day in whatever you are doing, and just rejoice in those small nuggets of happiness we all too often ignore and let them pass us by.
Foxes Den 
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