I see

Often one has little control over things. The actions of other people,
natural events or acts of God. As if God's actions are only bad, but so
the insurance companies word their contracts. The one thing you do have
control over, to an extend, is your reaction to any outside actions. If
your spouse passes away, not much you can do about how you the deep
bereavement you will experience. It is human. It is also an extreme
example. Yet, some wise man said that one said be joyful when somebody
passes away, and lament the birth of another one born into this world of
suffering, as the buddhist looks at it. And how to escape this
unescapable sorrow I am still learning.

When my late wife passed away, naturally I was inconsolable. I blamed
God, I didn't feel like living anymore, it was the end of my world. And
there perhaps the key lies, the end of my world, sorry for the loss I
suffered. Now, about twelve years later, I have a most loving and
precious wife and daughter, and I am happier than I have ever been
before. If I could look down the corridors of time and see myself twelve
years down the line, I could have been rejoicing as the wise man
suggested at the end of someones life. No more suffering, no more
struggling, no more pain. And my late wife would have been rejoicing
too,as she is now where she is now. And death has now taken on a
different meaning for me, yet, if someone has lost a loved one today, I
would not tell them not to be sad, not to be shaken to the core. We all
walk our own paths.

On a more mundane level, things are really much easier. If you want to
be happy you will find a reason, and if you don't want to be happy, you
will also find a reason, within the same happening. Bad news happens all
the time, so not to difficult to cultivate a negative look on life. One
can also stare blindly into the positive side and have a negative effect
on you. Or one can try to see the whole picture.Reminds me of a Chinese
story,in fact two Chinese stories I've read some time ago.Perhaps the
same old wise man in two different settings.

They go more or less as follows. The people praised the man for bringing
forth such an exemplary son. Ah saw is all he said. They then later told
him how well skilled the young man has become and once again his
reaction was the same. Not moved by good or bad. Then came the bad news,
the young man has fallen of a horse and broke his arm and once again the
old man just shrugged his shoulders and said ah saw. The people started
blaming him for not acting worried about this event. A week later war
broke out and his son was the only one that could not be send of to war
because of his broken arm. You see.Ha ha ha.

A young prince arrived and fell in love with one of the daughters in the
village and it was a secret love. He had to leave shortly afterwards and
soon it became apparent that she is pregnant. Fearing for her life she
accused the old man of doing this to her.His reply....ah saw. The
village peopled pushed him to one side and denounced him completely.
Still he wouldn't defend himself. When the child was born it was left up
to him to raise the young lad and once again his reaction was the
same.He brought up the child as if it was his own. A year later the
prince returned and the girl told him about what has happened. They
called the family and the village together and told them about this turn
of events. They then fetched the child and the old man and informed him
of what he knew already. As he handed the child back to the mother he
just nodded his head and said........you guessed it....ah saw.

Perhaps he was one of the three wise men from the east who followed a
star and brought gifts to celebrate the birth of another wise man.I
don't know, but what I do know is that beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, and that there is far more than meets the eye. Who is that
person in the mirror and what does that person see. It is your choice.

We are about 450nm from the border of Libya, and no, we won't be sailing
in that direction. We will be heading up to the north of Sicily and take
a short hop to Greece from there. I am thinking of taping all our flares
around our broom stick and tying all the detonating lines together. And
if a war plane dares to come to close, I might just.....It is nearly
full moon, and perhaps you would advise me to rather jump on the
broomstick and fly me to the moon.

Our position at high noon is 37*18'N/04*06'E.Wind for the next few days
predicted still from the east and we are making our way zig zagging
along the north coast of Africa.

Wish you a momentous day

Paul