A good neighbour

I have over the years been blessed with good neighbours. I have had the odd unpleasant one but by and large the people I've lived next to or below have been decent.

As an example, my current upstairs neighbour is a joy. Quiet, considerate and kind she is the type of neighbour we should all aspire to be.

I will never be able to comprehend why some people are hell-bent on making the lives of others miserable. It can't make for a pleasant life if you're at odds with others all the time.

I know, human nature being as it is we can't get along with one another all the time and I'm not some Pollyanna looking through rose tinted glasses, quite the opposite I would say. And although I'm a jaded cynical old dude I strive to be as good and kind as possible since disputation and anger are divisive and destructive.

I concede that I haven't always been as kind as I should have been over the years but I've come to realise in my dotage that being tightly wrapped and ready to burst at any moment doesn't make for a happy existence. Nowadays I strive to be kind and sanguine and I feel better for it.

In these days of anger, xenophobia, racism, and selfishness I will swim against the tide and be as kind as I can because without kindness and empathy anger and selfishness take over and that makes for an ugly world.

I'll finish now before I decend into mawkishness (too late, I hear you cry) and end by saying thank you to JD upstairs for being a good neighbour, my sibling for being a good brother and my friends for putting up with me.

Peace and love x