UKC

Went for a walk along the sea front the other day and stopped for a cuppa at a nice kiosk on the prom.
As I was sitting there watching the world go by I started pondering as to how lucky most of us are. From a personal angle, OK I've had recent serious health issues as I know others here have but we seem to be able to get through them, often with the help and support of friends and family. We've pursued our interests in the outdoors and many of us have been to places and seen things than many others don't even know exist. I consider myself particularly fortunate in having been able to visit the Pyrenees, the Himalaya and, notwithstanding serious illness three years ago, had a memorable trip to the Alps a few weeks ago.
I often see people when I'm out for a walk and they are confined to wheelchairs by some debilitating condition, either physical or mental or even both. I often think of the things I've been able to do many of which would prove impossible for some such people. OK I know they do not seek sympathy but It does make me think how much those of us who are relatively fit and healthy take for granted.

In reply to mypyrex:

I’m am currently managing to be simultaneously aware of how incredibly lucky I am and incredibly f*cking miserable

In reply to mypyrex:

That's great and everything and I'm sorry to be saying it but I'm getting a bit tired of your oh look at me I've been somewhere kinda posts.

In reply to aln:


Wow, not feeling lucky then?!

In reply to sg:


Well 13 dislikes so far so that's unlucky?

In reply to mypyrex:

Still have plenty more mountain ranges to visit!

In reply to mypyrex:

I share your joy.

As someone retiring in 6 weeks time, I'm looking forward to simple pleasures dominating my life.

In reply to mypyrex:

Well done, Sir. You are happy and that’s the most important thing in life.

In reply to aln:

If I'd recently beaten cancer I'd probably be posting about trips to mountains after gladly returning to them too.

Currently I'm enjoying having made a new friend, I helped somebody out because they needed it, and helped them out a bit more etc, and suddenly we're friends. I think it's what anybody would have done, but they've decided I'm nice, which is rewarding. I think they are too.

I think mypyrex is dead right about people being wheel chair bound, about how restricted their lives can be. Even just cycling up to Stanage Pole makes me feel glad to have a working body and a mind to appreciate my situation with.

In reply to mypyrex:

I don't do the lottery, mainly because I think I've already won it. And I know that sounds a little naff but its how I feel. And yet, as Yanis points out, I still have the capacity to be miserable which is possibly just the capacity to remain human?

In reply to Removed User:


Yes.

In reply to aln:

I went to Scotland once. The cab drivers, what a miserable bunch of cnuts they were!

In reply to mypyrex:

Who is "we"?

There are plenty having a truly shite time.

In reply to Lusk:

I've always found them really cheerful. Maybe it was you?

In reply to mypyrex:

I think a true measure of self worth is to not measure yourself against other people, just be happy in yourself. Wheelchair bound people know they are wheelchair bound and cannot go walking in mountain ranges, so there's no point in them getting grumpy about it and do other things that they can do. Mountains aren't everything, nor is travel. They may choose to race wheelchairs, like David Weir, or study theoretical physics like Stephen Hawkin. To suggest they have a inferior life is a slap in the face; they are different people, they have a different life.

If you have free time, a love of travel and mountains and a wish to share with others, I suggest a job with one of the school expedition companies. Getting 15 and 16 year olds out there for the first time can change their lives.

In reply to ian caton:



Did I say there weren't?

In reply to jonnie3430:

Oh, happy disabled people, having a lovely time, wish I was disabled.

In reply to Big Ger:



Like The Fat Duck

In reply to mypyrex:

Have a big fat like!

I'm reading a book about Ancient Britain at the moment and there's been something like 200 generations in Britain since the last Ice Age left us alone (I think). So we can also thank our lucky stars that we are in the 0.5% of those that live in an age with a) Reliable access to clean water b) Reliable access to delicious and nutrious food year round c) Reliable access to good health care for us and our families (consider infant mortality rates in Victorian times) d) recourse to reasonably reliable and uncorrupt laws e) rights at work f) democratic representation g) enlightened attitudes to womens'/different races/different religions/different sexual orientations rights (OK they are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but at least there is widespread acceptance of the idea everyone should be equal) I could go on and on and on g) Netflix.

Now consider that a lot of the present day world does not have all (or indeed any) of the above and we are even luckier. Then put your point on top and all in all we've got it pretty good I reckon.

Happy Days!

In reply to mypyrex:

Really happy for you. Learning to enjoy life and it's pleasures after going through a significant trauma, is not easy or straight forward. Many people are not able to cope and spiral into depression and chaotic lives. Getting out into nature is a fantastic source of mental healing.

In reply to Bobling:
Excellent comments

In reply to Bobling:



Indeed. I was reading yesterday about a woman who had gone on holiday(and taken her children during term time) and had been involved in some sort of fracas with Ryanair over problems resulting from the French air traffic control strike. OK, I do not envy her having such problems but to describe the experience as "sheer hell" or some such expression left me thinking that if that was her idea of hell then she doesn't know half of it.
I'm sure many of us have experienced similar or nearly similar disruption but I'm sure most of us endeavour to work our way through it and put it down to experience and then get on with life.

In reply to mypyrex:
You mean you have limited sympathy for those people forced to ensure a few extra days on holiday in a hotel... must hell for the poor dears.

I think one thing mountaineering does over other sports, is it often takes you to parts of the world where life is still extremely tough on a daily basis. Probably more so than those who gap year it, travelling from one tourist hot spot to the next.

In reply to summo:



Spot on

In reply to mypyrex:


Nice post, mypyrex, and good for you. And 38 likes for your OP so far must mean something.

I agree with you though personally I have a slightly different take on "How lucky most of us are." I have spent many years in some relatively rubbish places overseas and now people moaning about the train being 5 minutes late or TESCO running out of cherry tomatoes or a sudden rain shower make me think 'First world problems. Get a grip and count your multiple blessings'

Do not listen to the gripers hope you keep walking and climbing and posting about it

In reply to profitofdoom:

In reply to Lusk:

Have a like.

In reply to mypyrex:

Yes, it is often the case that when something is available to us we tend to take it for granted and only realise its real value when it starts to go away from us. That's the reason I always thank god for whatever he has given me. I see many people who are not as privileged as I am but still they continue to live their life. Indeed, I consider myself lucky.

In reply to profitofdoom:




Really must tell aln about the time I went to...

In reply to mypyrex:



My apologies, I was feeling grumpy and my comment was ill mannered and unwarranted. I wish you the best, enjoy your adventures

In reply to aln:

I accept your apologies and thank you for your gentlemanly comment. Likewise I wish you the best. +Like

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Among others

But seriously, simple pleasures;
A good book read in a comfy chair, with a cuppa and a log fire.
Walking on Dartmoor in the rain with friends and my dogs.
Going out to an ancient monument not visited before, and getting a good photo of it.
A night in a local pub with mates from the village.
Finishing a boulder problem, (probably a very easy one.)
Cooking a meal for me and the missus.
Going out foraging and finding a huge supply of something nice.
Visiting mates, and catching up on their lives.
Tending our allotment, and seeing new shoots coming through.
And many more....

In reply to mypyrex:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/06/dont-think-youre-lucky...

Anyone living in a highly developed economy in 2016 is already the beneficiary of stupendous luck – for example, not being born during the plague, or living in the modern-day Central African Republic (average life expectancy: about 50). Ponder that, and it’s easier to see why Buddhists speak of the incomparable luck of being born human at all. You might have been a battery hen, or a mayfly with a one-day lifespan.

In reply to Martin W:



I see your quote is from the Guardian. What's the bet there would be readers asking if there are any 'Channel your inner mayfly' workshops, if it were made known that Mayflies spend several years as a nymph, perfecting the arts of foraging for wild food, and wild swimming in crystal clear mountain tarns.
Oh, and the males have 2 dicks.

Any takers?

In reply to mypyrex:

There are very few people in the world who possess the financial safety net as well as the background fitness, the will and the mental resources to get the best treatment for illness or injury. At its most dramatic, look at Lance Armstrong who recovered from devastating illness thanks to the best possible, most modern treatment and unlimited money as well as fitness and mental determination. An example of failure to cope is my neighbours who are in their seventies and are depressed, suffering multiple conditions and in a slow downward spiral thanks to their own inability to organise their treatment and medication and a stubborn refusal to accept help despite our and their daughter's best efforts.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Sounds like depression may be a factor.
It doesn't take much for life to go in the 'wrong' direction.

There, but for the grace of the FSM.

In reply to mypyrex:

There is also the question of nutrition; we enjoy a diet, which far exceeds the levels of energy and protein of most of the world's diet. Americans are the most extreme example; even my own brother since moving to the USA 12 years ago has grown massive, not just in his belly but in all directions thanks to his rich diet and probably some growth hormones in the meat. I actually believe that Britain's industrial revolution would not have happened if factory workers had not had access to affordable high quality nutrition in the form of the millions of tons of protein that were hauled out of the seas in the form of herring.

In reply to llechwedd:



Mrs Ridge says she likes the idea of two dicks. Somehow I don't think she's referring to mayflies though...