Colin Warren: the blog

Something this week made me think of something that happened a couple of weeks and when we got early to go for a walk and enjoy the company of friends on a cool, crisp morning. Amazed to see quite a few people out getting their exercise and many of those under the direction of a personal trainer. After 50 minutes of catching up with what’s been happening to each other and a coffee and eggs for breakfast (watch out for the Bikini Buster!). Just lovely to swap stories and enjoy the adventures we’ve all been having, lots of laughing and a serious moment when some sad news is heard. There’s a certain energy to be had from this sharing and it felt good to be alive.

Life’s about the people around us – interacting with them and sharing the journey, but it’s not all plain sailing. On our trip into town (and on the way back home), we noticed a young man who was obviously disturbed, shouting out loud and looking fairly agitated. Fighting some inner demons it seemed. Walking with an urgent stride and bursting out screaming and waving his hands about. The second time we saw him (he’d covered a bit of ground) he threw a nearly full bottle of soft drink on the ground and kept going. It seemed so sad, and also that he was alone. Probably not in any state to be consoled either… Then we saw a young mother with a little toddler bounding along without a care in the world, totally absorbed in the moment, all senses capturing the world around him – young life is so beautiful… And then 15 seconds later a man we knew, who had deteriorated physically (and probably mentally) using a wheely frame to cross the road. He was an older man facing the later stages of his life with diminished capacity.

So in a very brief space of time we had witnessed the whole gamut – people can be happy, sad, disturbed and melancholic. It reminded me of just what type of lives there can be and how they might be lived. We are (if possible, and with all our power) to make the most of ours.