Last weekend we visited my parents and after my long drive Saturday morning we decided to put our feet up and watch a film. As mum scrolled through the films she had
recorded from the TV searching for something good to watch we found “Pollyanna”.
“I haven’t watched that for years!” I cried.
“Shall we watch it then? Your dad likes that one too, he’ll
probably sit and watch it with us.”
I settled back on the sofa and sure enough my dad came and
sat down beside me too, even if he did complain, “we’ve seen this before!”
Youngest son wandered in and out, shaking his head at us
watching such a silly old movie.
“Will she fall out of the tree and die?” He said with a
grin.
“Just watch.” Said his Grandad, but he never did sit down
with us. Neither did Pollyanna die, but I don’t want to add too many spoilers
just in case you haven’t seen this classic piece of cinema!
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| Pollyanna making rainbows from glass prisms |
I remember watching the film when I was small and wanting to
be Pollyanna, well except the falling out of the tree part. I wanted to be just
like the smiling, happy little girl who always saw the best in people and in
every situation. The little girl who despite every adversity taught a whole
town to be GLAD.
You may remember somewhere near the start of the summer
holidays I went to New Wine and made a decision to CHOOSE to be joyful? Kind of
like playing an updated version of Pollyanna's Glad Game.
Why is it as soon as we make these kinds of momentous
decisions real life seems to get tough?
Nothing really BAD has come my way but I get the feeling
“something” is trying to pull me in the opposite direction making me unduly
grumpy and despondent, magnifying life’s little hiccups out of all proportion.
Watching Pollyanna reminded me to play the Glad Game or to
count my blessings or to choose joy, it doesn’t really matter what you call
it, just do what works best for you.
You can only be the miserable maid or the awkward aunt for
so long; eventually Pollyanna’s game becomes infectious.
So with that in mind I have started writing down the good
things that have happened that day in my diary, especially when I don’t feel
like it. I have found once I write one thing, even something small and
seemingly insignificant, I tend to remember another and then a third and fourth…
As we’ve nearly reached the end of the summer holidays I
decided to write a list of this year’s holiday highlights… to remind me that
Summer 2013 was really good and not just because of the sunshine!
Obviously there was New Wine, it’s always great to be away
with my friends and this year someone organised a Camp Olympics competition for
our group, lots of silly games that involved throwing ping pong balls at a
target, scrambling under guy ropes and spinning round a broom handle before
walking in a straight line – or should that be falling over – OUCH! Haven’t
laughed so much for ages – lots of family fun with my lovely extended church family!
Taking both boys to the cinema to see Wolverine. There are
so few films we all want to see and this was one of the few things we all did
together, so that makes it extra special.
Having my bridesmaid and her family come to stay for a few
days. A day out to a theme park in the sunshine, getting spectacularly wet on
the water rides and no arguments from any of the six children or us 3 adults!
Having a Scalextric tournament one evening and a musical evening the next, my
friend’s husband and eldest son can both play the piano beautifully. Since my youngest
son gave up lessons no one plays ours anymore – oh I really need to find a man
who is musical! Hehehe
The drainpipe leaking – ok so that doesn’t sound like a
blessing especially as there was no one around at the time to call on to fix it
but when a section of pipe completely fell off something HAD to be done and
oldest son and I got out the ladder and mended it together. All this time I’ve
been wondering where I would find a man to fix things for me and there he was
all the time, growing up before my eyes, tall and strong and capable!
And then he got his GCSE results. He worked so hard and
achieved 2 As, 5 Bs and 4 Cs. Funnily enough for my O levels I got 1 A, 6 Bs
and 4 Cs – I guess that makes him just a little bit brighter than his mother
then!
There were a few days spent at my parents where I got spoiled
with tea and toast in bed every morning – BLISS. I finally got to relax and actually finished reading a book!
A ventriloquism lesson for youngest son.
And I can’t forget to mention Edinburgh, just arriving there
without a SatNav, the zoo (the monkeys were our favourite), the fringe,
watching Simon Mayo Drivetime live in the Radio 2 tent and I have to mention the
God Particle, please go and see it if you have a chance, such a funny and
clever play – I wish I could write like that.
But my most favourite Edinburgh highlight… well that
deserves a special post all of its own...just click the link below!
Meanwhile I’m glad that outside the sun is still shining and
there are still 4 days left of the summer holidays to fill – I wonder just how
many blessing I can squeeze in?
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