Life is a beautiful gift, a gift of love, laughter, joy and happiness. Life is also a gift of pain, challenges, uncertainty and questions. How we view life depends upon us and how we choose to ‘see’. I was in a town centre yesterday and I heard this amazing music flowing through the air. I turned around to find the source of the melody, so that I could move closer and listen in for awhile. 
I found a young girl, busking, strumming away on her guitar, sounding like a young female version of Eric Clapton (yes I’m a big Eric fan!). But it wasn’t just her talent and music that struck me. It was the contented joyful and happy look on her face. She sat with her legs crossed, toes tapping to the beat, her beat. She had a woolly hat on over her long dark hair and she looked very young and carefree. Her groovy vibe was so attractive and contagious and I found it hard to pull myself away! I left her feeling happy and light and joyful and admiring her entrepreneurial spirit.
Later on that day, I was on a train on my way to a business meeting, and the train was stationary for a long time as the emergency services had been called to an incident involving a person in front of a train. Though nothing further was said, as the train reversed back towards our starting point, it didn’t sound good at all. My heart went out to the person’s family.
Two perspectives, but the same life. How do you choose to view the gift of you? I choose to see the love and the pain, the laughter and the challenges, the joy and the uncertainty, the happiness and the questions, all through the eyes of positivity, gratitude and mission. With a sense of urgency, not to waste a single moment, but to bring light & love and be a blessing to others.