It was an interesting exercise in PC 311, starting each paragraph with ‘I am lucky ….’ and seeing what appeared on the screen. It reminded me of another lovely example of letting the brain run, typing in ‘I remember …..’ and then see what, without too much thought or effort, appears. The trick is to start again as soon as you realised you’ve paused to think. Go on! Try it?

I am lucky; back in March 2009 I went to my first hot yoga class in Balham, South London. Seventy two strangers packed into a hot room, sweat everywhere, breathing and stretching and challenging. Gradually the practice of this sequence became an important part of my daily routine. So important that Celina and I moved to the city of Brighton & Hove as here there are two local studios offering this type of hot yoga. Almost fourteen years later I am lucky enough to complete 5 sessions a week. If you have never tried yoga, particularly hot yoga, give it ago; don’t if you really detest sweating!

I am lucky enough to have met, through the practising of hot yoga, Celina. We started chatting in the corridor outside the studio, waiting for the previous class to clear the room, and after a year and a bit decided to have supper one evening in London (Note 1). Thirteen months later we, together, moved into an apartment in Hove. I could easily have been on my own somewhere, so count my blessings and my luck that I have her in my life. I am also lucky she comes from Brazil and not somewhere like Walton-on-Thames. Regular readers will remember a great grandfather Richard Corbett of mine was born in Recife, in the north east of the country. I mentioned that the two numbers of my current age add up to thirteen, an unlucky number for those who are superstitious. In Celina’s case they add up to ten.

I am lucky to have had three fascinating careers that paid me for my efforts and now, my fourth career, where I do stuff but don’t normally get paid (Note 2). Now when someone asks what I do, I respond: “I do yoga, paint and write and look after my young love.” So much better than: “Oh! I’m retired.” which closes the conversation before it’s got started!

I am lucky I spent twenty years in Her Majesty’s Service. Sure it had its ups and downs, its excitement and its boredom, its opportunities and its constraints, its adventures and its challenges, but it was all about trying to get the best from others, to develop and encourage others to do well, to carry out whatever operation confronted us. And it instilled in me an attitude and values by which I live today.

I am lucky I was once made redundant after working for an aerospace company for six years, as the role I was fulfilling was no longer needed, or so the company thought. OK! At the time I probably was gutted, but in retrospect it was a lucky break. Everyone reacts in different ways but in the final analysis you have to take a good look at yourself; some honest personal introspection, however difficult, is essential to achieve some real fulfilment in life.

In PC 311 ‘I am Lucky’ I recalled that the inflation rate when I got my first mortgage to buy my first house was 14%. The house itself cost £29,500, an arm and a leg at the time. I have been lucky since: having spent 25 years living in South London I benefitted hugely from the explosion in its property values.

I am lucky technology doesn’t stand still and my generation, and yours, benefits from that. In ‘A Short Conversation with my Step Father’ (PC 96 May 2017) I looked at some of the developments he would have embraced and others he might have poo pooed. He probably would have been unhappy not being able to tinker with the engine of his car, being a Mechanical Engineer by profession. Frankly I feel extremely lucky that the reliability of car engines, drive trains etc is now so so good that it’s unlikely the engine will blow up, as did my Sunbeam Alpine’s on the M3 Motorway back whenever!

I am lucky that I have lived through a period when air travel became normal, both short haul and long haul, as experiencing the smells, sights and sounds of other countries, other climates and other peoples is, I believe, life enhancing. Recently Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of His Majesty’s Opposition here in the UK, admitted in an interview that his mother had only been on an aeroplane once, when she had flown from London to Manchester, for her honeymoon.

One outcome of my first marriage was my lovely daughter, Jade. I am lucky she has found her niche in the teaching profession, has three fine healthy sons …. and a great husband. I am lucky that through Celina I have gained another lovely extended family, living in both Brazil and Portugal.   

Those who have read the stories of AA Milne concerning a bear called Pooh will know that his friends’ characteristics reflect those found in us humans! I think I am lucky to be very much more ‘Tigger’ than ‘Eeyore’.

And finally I am extremely lucky to have been able to sail extensively, travelled widely and still have my health to pursue my current interests.

Richard 16^th December 2022

http://www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 She suggested we went for a drink, a sort of ‘first base’ in the dating game! I explained I didn’t drink alcohol any more so suggested we had supper somewhere; second base in the dating game! Lucky huh!

Note 2 An ex-client commissioned me to paint something for his wife, which had to include a pear tree, a single pear and the crooked spire of Chesterfield Parish Church of St Mary and All Saints. Lucky to be paid for doing something I love.