Rust

Our old car used to polish up fairly well considering its age.  But there came the day when a small lump appeared under the paintwork at the bottom of the driver’s door.

We didn’t take much notice of it at first, even though the lump got bigger and seemed to be spreading.  The inevitable happened, we had to replace the whole door.  We hadn’t attended to the rust in its early stage and the problem got beyond repair.

Sometimes we deliberately refrain from trying to repair a broken friendship and before we know it, our unresolved differences can easily develop into a form of corroding rust.  Gradually, hate can fester inside us and inevitably, the original relationship can become non-existant or very toxic.

Sometimes friendships break up for very petty reasons. Each side claiming to be in the right and with no obvious chance of reconciliation. It is sad to see families come together for a special occasion and a somewhat frosty environment exists because some family members no longer associate with others in the family.

Often it’s pride that keeps us from reconciling with each other. Swallowing our pride and being prepared to attempt to heal the differences might be difficult, but it may save us from affecting the rest of our life because of the rust we carry around in our heart.  In the process, we could regain a lasting friendship, or even unite families that have been parted for many years.

Let’s endeavour to fix the ‘rust’ before it permanently wrecks our life.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

Our Lives

Throughout our lives we struggle and we smile; we laugh and we cry; we suffer and we celebrate.

As we grow in age and wisdom, each of us has a different story to relate about our individual journeys.  Our stories are depicted on a canvas that tells of hardships and pain, courage and perseverance, strength and endurance.  They relate how we have experienced periods of deep sorrow as well as times of great joy.

Each chapter in our book of life contains examples of how we have tried, failed and tried again until we have succeeded; how we have had big wins and suffered sad losses and how we have loved and been loved in return

During our journey it soon becomes evident that for our survival, we all need some form of help and support from others.  For our life can be lonely and made virtually impossible if we attempt to travel it alone.

As we tread the pathways of our lives, it is important, as part of our travel, we reach out to those we meet who are in need.  For so often, we ourselves find the help and support we need when others reach out to us.

If we consciously decide to love and look out for one another, we’re offering the most precious gift we have in our possession – the gift of ourselves.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Criticism

It is strange how some people you meet in life seem to enjoy placing more emphasis on your mistakes and minor indiscretions than on your achievements.  It’s as if they want to ensure their superiority over you by ‘putting you down’.

There are nice ways of counselling others and helping them realise they have made a mistake.  We should always be aware, none of us are perfect. 

While others might make mistakes we would never dream of making, ridicule will only tend to make them look for excuses to support their actions, rather than find ways to ensure their mistakes are not repeated.

People who try to lord it over others, can tend to be insecure within themselves.  Often they can be jealous of other people’s achievements and even feel threatened by them.

If we want to criticise others, we should first turn to those areas in our own life where others could criticise us.  Perhaps this might allow us to look a little more kindly on other people’s mistakes.

We can be helped a lot by being corrected, but we can be helped a lot more by being encouraged.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Worry

Kids always think parents worry too much because they never see the problems that they have to face in the same way as their parents.

It seems parents are pretty much the same all over the world.  So, parents, take heart – you’re not the only ones out there worrying about your children.

Kids! It looks like the problem is universal.  Whether you realise it or not, you’ll probably grow up having the same types of worries about your kids, as your parents have about you.

However, with all our worry and anxiety, we must learn to be careful. Worrying can make us ill and reduce our effectiveness as parents.

Maybe we need to trust our kids a bit more.  Sure, they’ll make mistakes. Didn’t we, when we were their age.  But if we have instilled in our kids the values we believe to be right, then, hopefully, they will remember these when it comes to important decision time.

Worry can cloud our minds and seriously affect our ability to react in a positive way when the problems we’ve been worrying about call for some clear-thinking decisions.

On the other hand, if we tend to worry about situations before they even happen, then we’re the ones with the problem, not the kids. The old adage, “Never worry worry, until worry worry’s you” rings true.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Waiting

antlers

Some people’s lives are filled with excitement and constant activity. Others find themselves in exactly the opposite situation. They may be waiting around between emergency calls or for the tide to change, for the bus to come or for a doctor to arrive.

It seems waiting is something we all have to do from time to time.  Our bodies need to wait in sleep in order to regenerate our strength for the next round of daily activities. We wait in the queue at the supermarket or at the traffic lights or for our order to be prepared at the drive through.

Farmers need to wait for the rain and the sun, before they harvest their crops.  A mother waits while her baby prepares to meet the world.  Parents often have to wait in a hospital’s casualty ward while a child’s life hangs in the balance.

Throughout our lives, there are many occasions when we all have to wait somewhere.  Many of our waiting periods can be a source of considerable frustration because we have other more important things to do in our lives.  But sometimes it’s good to use this forced waiting period to be still, reflect and learn from all that’s happening around us.

To use our waiting time effectively, we need to accept that being quiet and practicing patience can often be just as rewarding for us as active participation.

We will just have to wait to test out this theory.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Uniqueness

Just as there are no two leaves or flowers perfectly alike throughout the world, there are no two similar people.  Everyone is a unique person with a personality and temperament different from anyone else.

Physical characteristics differ between people and races and there are no two sets of human fingerprints the same.

Sometimes we try to be someone other than ourselves.  We spend, often beyond our means, to keep up with the Jones’ (as the saying goes).  Some may also try to impress by attempting to change other people’s opinion of who they really are.

There is nothing wrong with us trying to improve ourselves, but life has enough problems for us to confront without us having to constantly live out the lie of trying to be someone we’re not.

Anyhow, in the long run, our true self will usually shine through and we’ll realise we’ve probably only been fooling ourselves with our put-on airs and graces.

It’s a lot more comfortable and a lot less stressful being ourselves, because after all, we are unique people and we should be proud of that uniqueness.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Unconditional Love

Hands

Mums and Dads probably never really fully understand love until they’ve survived their kids’ progress through adolescence.

What do you say when you find out your daughter has wagged school and hitched a ride with a truckie to Canberra so she can deliver a speech outside parliament house deploring the government’s stance on climate change. Some might agree with her stance, but they obviously aren’t the worried parents of a young missing teen.

Or watching the T.V. News, you see your student son being forcibly taken to a police paddy wagon. He’d never shown any interest in fish before, so you really wonder at his need for a violent stance at a ‘save the whale’ rally.

There are times when parents must feel like putting a sign up at the front gate that says, “Maturing teenagers – Proceed with caution”.

It seems that through this turbulent period, the best parents can do for their adolescents is to always continue to be there for them and to love them, hard though it might seem.

The kids will probably act as if they don’t want to know you, but there is no doubt it will pay off in the long run. Unconditional love – it’s when you give totally of yourself for those you love and get precious little in return.

Parents’ frustrations with their teens probably won’t prove fatal, but it is essential we persist in loving our kids through the good and the difficult times.  When they eventually mature and have children of their own, they will realise the value of your unconditional love and understand the significance of your concerns.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Twilight

Twilight – The name has a certain magic ring about it.

It’s that short transition period of each day that divides the light of our day from the dark of the night.

Artists, poets and photographers down through the ages have been captivated by this period of our day and have made many attempts to express their understanding of its beauty and tranquility.

The sun slowly disappears over the horizon and the sky heralds our day has come to an end, the birds return to the security of their nests and our cities twinkle with light from generated power.

Often older people will refer to themselves as living in the twilight of their years. Maybe they are referring to themselves as being somewhere between their get-up-and-go years and their rest-in-the-afternoon years!

If we can find the time, twilight is a good time each day for us to try for a moment to find a quiet place, put aside the thoughts and worries of our day and marvel at the wonders of creation.

It also doesn’t hurt to be thankful for having survived another day.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Travel

Most of us love to travel and with tourism being the world’s largest industry, it’s no wonder so many visitors come to our country.

Meanwhile on the home front, some would prefer to restrict their movements to seeing Australia. In this country we have such an amazing diverse variety of scenic wonders to explore and many locations to enjoy some serious adventurous holidays.

Other Aussies satisfy their wanderlust by overseas trips to all parts of the world to relive history, actually visit those advertised picture-postcard places or just laze about on board a ship travelling to exotic ports.

Experience has shown that we all need to be careful with our personal approach to cleanliness. We constantly need to be aware that should we contract an illness while away from this country it can cause much hardship and ruin our longed for holiday.

The urge to explore seems inbuilt in our nature, from our early crawling days when we ventured from room to room, to the dream holiday we often plan for the future.

It is often been said our life is a journey. If this is so, then we are all explorers searching the unknown, each looking for our best pathway through life.

If then, we are all on a journey, perhaps we should resolve, not only to enjoy the trip, but to help our fellow travellers enjoy themselves as well.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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Trapped

The lift jerked twice, then stopped somewhere between Floors 17 and 18.  The interior light flickered, dimmed and went out.  I was alone in the blackness.

I’d often thought about what it might be like to be stuck in a lift, now I was experiencing it.

In the dark, all the buttons on the wall felt the same, so I pressed them all hoping that one of them would ring an alarm somewhere and alert someone to my predicament.

There’s nowhere to go in a dark lift.  Two steps in any direction brings you up against a wall.  It seems pointless calling out, your voice bounces back at you.  And thumping on the metal doors seems only to hurt your fists.

The building’s air conditioning doesn’t extend to the lifts and it gets quite warm in the confined space.  You feel caged in and the darkness seems to compound the problem.

After all my attempts to get help seemed to have failed, I found myself sitting in a corner listening for any sound that might represent rescue. I could only wait and hope someone would come to my aid.

Sometimes in our day to day life we have the same feelings of restriction and aloneness.  We can be involved in situations where mentally, we feel trapped and incapable of movement in any direction.

While it might sometimes be difficult to focus clearly, we must learn not to panic but to have patience. For our life is a bit like a lift, full of ups and downs and the odd occasions where we must wait and hope.

I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.

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