Lent 2014 - 19th April: simple pleasure of Easter

I have blogged over 40 days worth of simple pleasures in which to be thankful for. Some have been a little tongue in cheek, such as cows, others have been much deeper in thought. All have been heart felt and things I enjoy. Maybe I have  missed off a few things. I don't think I mentioned the simple pleasures of gardening or cooking for instance. I'm sure you can think of other things I've missed.It is easy to see the negatives in life and to become negative as a result of focusing on the things that need changing. It is easy to pick holes and less easy to give constructive criticism. It is not always easy to stay upbeat and positive about life especially when the proverbial hits the fan. As a perfectionist I can be quite hard on myself but I have learnt that there is always going to be something I could do better or change. Being at college taught me the art of deadlines and having to put aside perfectionism in order to meet those deadlines. Actually I work much better this way. However, not all of life has deadlines. Maybe that is just as well. There is of course one deadline we all face. Some people know when their days are numbered, others never know and they are here one minute and gone the next. Whilst we are here surely it is better to focus on the beauty and good things of life rather than the bad and the negative.

The Easter message is about the painful death of the Messiah who was hung on a cross, despite his innocence, but the focus is not so much on his brutal death but rather on the resurrection and the concurring of death. Jesus overcame death and paid the price for our negativity and wrong doing. Through faith in him we have been given life, eternal life, to live to the full. The world may bring us all sorts of problems but what matters is how we choose to deal with them. I pray that you may focus on the good things of life, those simple pleasures, and that they may give you joy and the strength to carry on. Life is full of many twists and turns but as every Sunday School child knows the answer is always Jesus. Now what's your question?

I love Easter it is a simple pleasure all in itself. Have a blessed Easter and rejoice in the good things of life that God has given us to enjoy and savour.

Lent 2014 - 17 April: ladies' lunch

Today's simple pleasure was a ladies' lunch. It's good to catch up with friends over a leisurely lunch and to talk about nothing in particular other than whatever pops into your head. It's good if you can laugh and cry together and share both the highs and lows of life. Sometimes unexpected people become close friends. Sometimes others drift away when the going gets tough. True friendship can be hard to find. A yummy lunch is just the iceing on the proverbial cake. Would I like another? Don't mind if I do. 

Lent 2014 - 16th April: driving my car

I like driving in my car... I wish it were a Jaguar... Driving my car is normally a pleasure especially if the music is turned up high. I wish I could say this was a photo of my car, alas I can't. Today I spent 3 hours fighting traffic on the M42 and such places. The drive was rather too long for me hence the short post. 

Today's simple pleasure is  driving my car... 

BEEP, BEEP!

Lent 2014 - 15 April: peace and quiet

Today's simple pleasure is peace and quiet. What's that? Absolutely nothing. Bliss.

Lent 2014 - 14th April: social media

Today's simple pleasure is that of social media. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Facebook and much prefer Twitter. To me Twitter is much more about networking and outward looking compared to Facebook that seems to be so inward looking and navel gazing. I like being able to communicate through social media and connect with people I wouldn't normally see on a day to day basis. The downside of it is that we can fail to give those we live and care about our fully attention because we are endlessly tapping on our tablets, computers or phones. Sorry John. 

I enjoy social media it is a pleasure (*waves) but it will never substitute real life contact. Virtual hugs are OK but they are just not the same as the real thing! 

Lent 2014 - 13th April: history

Today's simple pleasure is history, no literally 'history'. I love history. I can never remember any date but that's almost beside the point. I love the beauty found in National Trust properties and other such places. I would have like to have gone exploring one today given it was such a lovely day but we had a few chores to do. 

My favourite academic subject at school was history, being an all girls friend we never studied the First and Second World Wars in any detail, I wish we had. Instead it was kings and queens and such like. I have a lasting memory of one rather excentric teacher who had us standing on our desks and waving our rules pretending to be Vikings or something. The head teacher came in to tell us off for being rowdy I seem to be recall and then went out again a little embarrassed realizing we had been encouraged in this madness.

We can learn so much from history but it seems the human race still continues to go round in circles making the same old mistakes. I am intrigued by the wisdom that can be gleaned or ignored through studying it. Today's simple pleasure is history maybe it's not your bag and you wonder why I call it a pleasure. We all have a history that makes us who we are some of it good and some of it bad. We can let our own history effect us in a negative manner or we can learn from it and move on. History whether we like it or not is part of who we are. Surely it is better to embrace it and at least find contentment in it than ignore it and stick out head in the sand.