A light and dark perspective

Today was one of those emotional rollercoaster days where you're just not sure what life is trying to do to you. It was the kind of day that makes you feel like one of the Grand Old Duke of York's ten thousand men and you have no idea if you're up, you're down or only halfway up and neither up nor down. The kind of day that saps your reserves of mental energy and all you want to do at the end of it is give up and eat a large slice of chocolate cake with a double helping of whipped cream.

All in all I'd say today was a good day - given how fast everything happened it was easy to remember the ups during the downs and this helped keep a sense of perspective that even if things aren't going so well right at this very moment, it was only a short while ago that life was rosy. From a personal viewpoint, it's quite rare that I have such an oscillatory sequence of events crammed into a such a short span of time. I think it safe to say that more normally the ups and downs are spaced further apart with sustained durations of ambivalence in between - but for this one day everything came at me in a rush!

In regular life when ups and downs are further apart the upswings are naturally easier to handle - life is good and everything is going your way. The difficulty arises when you're going through a rough patch, nothing is going to plan, the world is arrayed completely against you and everything you touch turns to dust. It's during these phases, where you've previously gotten used to a smooth life, that it's only too easy to forget the good that has happened to you previously and to retain your perspective. I'm reminded of a particular couplet from Rudyard Kipling's If which really strikes a chord with me:

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same

In a rather nice little coincidence, I attended a Quran discussion circle last week where we talked through Surah Duha (S 93). The main focus of the chapter is a potent reminder that life is a sum of ups and downs and that having some difficulty in life is not an indicator of divine displeasure and does not need to be a cause for worry.

When circumstances seem completely against you it is always worth remembering the good that you've gotten so accustomed to that you don't even notice them anymore. Contemplating something as mundane as the sun rising in the morning or spending time with those who are less fortunate than you will remind you to keep that loftier perspective and to take life as a whole. You will have positives and you will have negatives. Do not despair when all around is dark - remember what you could see when you were had the light.

For the curious amongst you, I've written the details of my day below.

• Plan to have brunch with friends - Woo!
• Too rainy for motorcycling - will have to use public transport - Boo!
• Have woken up with plenty of time to spare - Woo!
• The motorcycle cover that I bought yesterday has been blown off the bike by overnight wind and is now lying against the garden wall - Boo!
• Railway engineering works mean I have to take the bus first and transfer at Seven Kings train station - Boo!
• Friends are running a half hour late - Boo!
• Realise as I'm getting off the bus that my brother is actually on the same bus - Woo!
• Stay on the bus and take the slow route to brunch and chat for an extra half hour - Woo!
• Arrive at brunch place - Woo!
• It's busy and we haven't booked a table - Boo!
• Table for three becomes available just as my friends arrive - Woo!
• Enjoying brunch too much and I forget the time - Woo!
• I have overrun my schedule - Boo!
• Phone interview for a voluntary job has been booked in for 2pm - Boo!
• We pray a cheeky Zuhr at East London Mosque in congregation - Woo!
• Get the train home arriving at Seven Kings train station at 1:55pm - Boo!
• Bus transfer departs 10s before I can get to the stand - Boo!
• Decide not to wait for the next bus and walk the 15mins home - Boo!
• Interviewer rings while I'm walking and getting thoroughly drenched in the rain (no umbrella) - Boo!
• Interviewer is OK to wait 10mins until I get home - Woo!
• The next bus passes me as I reach my home bus stop - Boo!
• Reach home - Woo!
• I forgot to turn the heater off in my room - Boo!
• Room is pleasantly warm - Woo!
• I call the interviewer and the interview is more of a chat and goes well - Woo!
• Make plans to leave home by 5 to get to the homeless project on time - Woo!
• Mother arrives home at 5 - Woo!
• I get into car to drive to tube station and save 15 minutes on a 45 minute journey - Woo!
• Car doesn't start despite having installed a new battery yesterday - Boo!
• Taking car to the garage for repair will likely be a pricey activity but seems necessary - Boo!
• Take bus to Seven Kings again - Boo!
• Bus is slow and there's no way I'm making it to the homeless project on time - Boo!
• Decide to go to the gym instead and start #CardioJanuary - Woo!
• Gym is full of people with New Year Resolutions - Boo!
• Fantastic Four is on TV - haven't seen the movie and provides a pleasant distraction on the treadmill - Woo!
• Run for an hour - far longer than usual and can feel the endorphins - Woo!
• Have to take the bus home and it's still raining - Boo!
• No chocolate cake in the house - Boo!
• Decide to write about my day - Woo!
• Mother comes to my room to tell me the motorbike cover landed on some cat poo - Boo!

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