Steve from England

This year is going to see a lot of changes going on. Many may not like those changes because what they will be is selfish. 'I' plan on living for me and that means devoting my time and energy to me and my soon to be 'husband',  Dennis. Essentially that will mean a hell of a lot less time for others. Entire relationships as they are now will change as circumstances change. Hopefully, we'll quickly become self sufficient financially and that will mean not having to rely on an handouts from others, not the state or family. No will will have the power to use their contribution to our existence against us again. No well meaning souls will be able to make that call to the benefit fraud team or safeguarding because, we won't be involved with those people. Our lives and our home will be under our own rules and standards. No body will have the right to behave superior or disrespectful again, it's not going to happen. Of course, this relies on our mega expensive next ...

Perhaps it's a survival of the fitness throw back not to seem 'weak' that so many people are averse to saying 'sorry'. It is one of the most powerful words however it is translated. It isn't an admission of a failure, it's an acknowledgement that things are not going the way they should. Those who have tried to use the word more have discovered the huge effects it has on their communication with others. If you have a disagreement with someone and you've reached a point scoring stalemate, just say 'sorry' and see what happens. "I'm sorry, this is not the way I wanted to this conversation to go, can we start again?" That's not the same as saying that you are wrong and they are right, it's an acknowledgement of your regret that this just isn't satisfying anyone. You could go on all evening one point scoring reply after another, he said this, she said that and where does it get anyone? Look at these two examples of a couple ...

Why do coincidences happen more frequently after I pray for them? Why is there a pattern to my life which, taken as a whole makes sense? Now, my faith doesn’t, any more than the entirety of my life, follow the flow or ‘normality’. I don’t go out of my way to be different more, I feel I would have to go out of my way to conform and find it so much easier to be honest with myself, be myself. I don’t know about you, I feel sometimes I have been afraid of trusting my own judgements in case I are wrong and only have myself to blame. But then I remind myself, everything in life needs some form of manure to grow. Some things can grow OK in unfertilised pastures but, honestly, adding in some manure really moves things along. This is the very best of lives. I am convinced that if I were never ill, if nothing went wrong, if I were never broke, I couldn’t fully appreciate the incredible nature of my life. Does a rich person appreciate a lottery win the same way or as intensely as a poor person? ...