Is the glass half full or half empty?

I am free to marry whom I want.

I can get in my car, drive to the supermarket and buy food.

I have a roof over my head, my bed is warm and dry.

The hound patiently waits each day until I come through the door and then lavishes love on me.

I have access to books, movies, clothes.

My washing machine broke down a while aback and I have yet to get it repaired, I'm usually at work when the repairman can come you see. But it's given me a further insight into how life might not be so great for some. Several friends extended access to their washing facilities but there's a limit on how much you should abuse the generosity of friends. As a result I got a taste of how tough my grandma had it. She used to have to fetch water from the river to cook, clean, bathe and wash clothes when she first married my grandad. She did it for years. Do you know how hard it is to wash sheets by hand? Backbreaking. I admire her endurance, I threw my shoulder out washing a batch of sheets a couple of days ago.

No 'fridge ensured that she had to cook fresh meals every day from produce harvested from the garden or bought in the market. Thousands of women around the world still exist in these circumstances where they must fetch water for every need. Access to medical treatment or even a roof over their head a constant struggle. Their right to decide their future non-existent, they are often the property of their fathers before being passed on to a husband who pretty much owns them.

While I may rail at the crap that happens here, I'm still pretty thankful for the things that I mentioned at the beginning of this piece. And yes Angie, it's up to us to keep up the good fight. Since I started this blog I've been amazed at how many kindred spirits I've come across and taken heart from it. So even though there are days when I want to say " beam me up Scotty, there's no intelligent life on this planet", there's still hope for the human race.