Over the past few weeks – the last two in particular I’ve had many an occasion to be grateful for all that I have. When I take a good look at what I have, I am profoundly filled with gratitude because I have so much more than I can possibly ever need. My life is filled with an abundance of things that I had once considered vital — necessary to live. But with all that is occurring in Australia right now I can see that I have more than enough.
I watch the news each night and shed tears for the people who have lost their homes, businesses and all their possessions to the catastrophic fires currently raging. Fires that they predict will last for another four months or so. Then I look around my home and see what I have and find it very difficult to imagine losing it all. But then, after all they are only things and the most important things in life are those close to us — the ones that we love. Because we can always start again when we have our loved ones safe and alive.
I can recall in the early weeks after Kelly’s suicide, wondering how on earth I was going to manage to live my life without her. All the familiar things that go with having her alive, even if she wasn’t one hundred percent well. At least I could always work on helping her to improve her life. Then after a time I realised that I had wonderful memories of her and all I had to do was to choose to utilise those memories and I would always have her with me.
Now I don’t know that you can compare the loss of a loved one to the loss of all your possessions, but I’m sure it is up there on a similar scale — a devastation to the soul. But we are truly an amazing race, and one thing I’ve noticed is the Australian spirit in times of disaster. People lending a hand to their fellow man in this stressful time. It is heartwarming and so edifying to see. But we are not alone, as there has been such an outpouring of support from around the world from expatriates to those who have visited our country. So gratifying to hear of their love for us. Then there is the amazing support for the animals affected by the fires, people all over the country — and the world making mittens for burnt koalas, pouches for orphaned baby joey kangaroos, wraps for bats and so much more.
So I am grateful for all that I have and for the outstanding spirit of those who have been impacted by this tragedy. And for a while we will all have the reminders that we are a community and together we can help one another in this time of crisis.