Coping

This Friday the mother of a good friend of mine in Seattle goes into hospital for a major heart operation. Her daughter, one of the most caring and wonderful people I know, is flying to Kansas City to be by her side. My thoughts are with them both and I hope they both get the strength to come through.

It's when things like this happen, events that affect those you hold so dear, that one tends to switch on to automatic pilot. My own mother had a health scare eighteen months ago. She was living in Aberdeen at the time which only made me worry all the more. Thankfully she recovered but this was a huge influence on her decision to move to Edinburgh to be closer to her immediate family. She doesn't see Aberdeen FC so much now but that's merely an added bonus!

Life is tough enough with the daily grind at work, the never ending battle to make ends meet to keep a roof over your head and problems that having two adult daughters and two grandchildren bring. As I get older it seems to me that life is one constant worry. But when something major happens, when someone close to you has to go into hospital for a major operation, all your other worries seem to pale in comparison. You do tend to focus on the main source of anxiety - and while this doesn't make your other problems go away they are put into some kind of perspective.

A crap day at work when the whole world seems to want a piece of you can be frustrating and very tiring. But in the wider scheme of things, the health and well-being of the people you love are infinitely more important.