Sometimes I am grateful because of all the things I've got.
Sometimes I'm grateful because I am embarrassed and feel guilty that I have so much,
And aren't really that grateful at all.

Life is not one big long journey
It's a range of paths, trips and adventures
Some new,
Some repeating.

When one ends it's not your life that's over
Its just the trip.

The end is just a chance to unpack
and ponder what the next adventure will be.

Are they too lazy?
Or too busy.

Are they acting rude?
Or are they upset.

Are they being angry?
Or are they frustrated.

Are they ignoring you?
Or did they not get the message.

Are they ignorant?
Or do they not understand.

Are you asking?
Or do you just assume.



.

..probably not you.

If the winner is youth,
then every year you lose more

If it's truth,
 you lost when you told yourself all those lies

If it's perfection
You weren't ever in the competition

If it's trying the hardest
there is always someone ahead of you

If it's suffering the most suffering
then you probably don't want to win

if it's all about who wins
​We all lost already

I used to think
It took strength 
to take on the inevitable terrors that were coming my way
to meet the eyes of the people who would bring me down
to face the bad things that were just around the corner.

Imagine if everything I believed came true.

I know now 
It takes strength
to take on the inevitable opportunities that are coming my way
to meet the eyes of those who will bring me up
to face the good things that are around the corner.

Imagine if everything  I believe comes true.

When stuff goes down
Or mistakes have been made

Fixing the problem 
Becomes the second most important thing we do

Coming only after we are satisfied
Everyone knows we are not to blame
​

When we judge others we are simply being reminded of a part of ourselves we do not love.

Some guy on a Facebook thread said this,
But I'd heard it before, from someone who drinks tea and eats scones with me on a Monday,
​Got it!
​xx

Success is not something you  feel at the time.
Sure, you enjoy achieving a cool thing,
pulling something off,
making the grade.

But it tends to be later that we really appreciate our successes.
Later, days, weeks, years later
We reflect on how we did it
That we did it at all

If you are going to measure your success,
do it in retrospect

Stories are helpful.
They tell us what has been
They let us share, and care
They help us learn lessons that matter
​And forget hurts that don't.

Stories warn us of what we can expect
and allow us to understand why things are
And what has been

It's comforting to know a story so well
that we can recite it without reading the words
Except when we know our version of the story so well
We've forgotten the actual words all together.

An old article I wrote, which I turned into a letter for my father.
He read it a few years ago.. you can read it now

​"Some dads climb mountains, some dads run marathons, some dads have made a million dollars.
My Dad has done none of these things.
I watch the ads for Father’s Day gift perfection and laugh; my Dad doesn’t play sport, build things, or use the latest technology.
It got me thinking Dad, 
We hear so much about the perfect Dads; they tell funny jokes at our weddings, drive flash cars and tell us they love us whenever they see us. We see them on the TV and our friends share anecdotes. They’re not you.
You have never received much applause have you? 
Not too many thank you’s for the middle of the night picks ups when I was a wayward teenager, for the quiet behind the scenes work that is hardly noticed. Dad, I noticed.
My dad is David Darroch, he ran a hardware shop in Tawa, he’s a quiet man, he doesn’t make a fuss or make a lot of noise. This is why I love him.
My dad is my hero. 
He went to all my school camps, when I was an angst teenager he didn’t try to make me behave,  I knew he loved me through his actions.
The greatest piece of advice I ever received was from my Dad, he told me ‘the only way to beat the system is from within’. He was saying that I could BE the system, I had the power to change the world.
Men like my Dad were ahead of their time, they didn’t do new age parenting, it didn’t exist in the 70’s! But he taught me through example, the value of a good day’s work, the value of family. 
Dad- Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for my life. Thank you for being my dad."

David Darroch 07/11/1943- 26/09/2015