A Wealthy Tradition

We're just back from our annual day at Alice Lake. I can still feel the sun and the wind on my cheeks. I'm a relaxed Brenda Red Knees thanks to dozing off with a book in my lap. And for this day of simple enjoyments I am grateful.

Ahead of our trip to Holland in a few weeks, I'm reading the diary of Anne Frank. As I share in this young girl's experience of being hidden indoors behind closed curtains for two years, I realise what a privileged life I lead. The difficulty in reading the book is knowing the fate that awaits this teenager who will die in a German concentration camp before she is 16 - just weeks before the camp is to be freed by Allied forces.

Anne Frank writes of the difficulty of seeing the helpers who bring her family food and supplies arriving with wind in their hair and cold on their faces and to know that she cannot experience this for herself. What we take for granted became a sought after delight for young Anne Frank. What a privilege it is to be able to doze off in the sun and to be nicknamed Brenda Red Knees.

And I benefited today too from the wise words of my friend Morrie. As his wife, Em, and I discussed some of the challenges of planning for their retirement, Morrie quipped, "These are good problems to have." He's so right, if the problems we were discussing are the sum total of our problems, we are blessed: these are indeed good problems to have.

We count our wealth in dollars when we should count it in our friendships, our liberties, our enjoyment of health and the simplicity of our problems. After a fun day at the lake with friends, enjoyed in good health and with the prospect of work for tomorrow, my cup runneth over.