by Krista Whitwham

Created on: February 17, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

My husband was out of work for a year. In that time we built up debts and our house seemed to be falling apart around our ears. Now he is back in work and things are getting better but all we have been able to do is talk about how our life would be better if our house was perfect and we had more money. How if we hadn't had a year without his wage we would be in a much better financial position. We would be able to go out with friends every weekend or buy that new top. Have the life all our friends have. We had found ourselves in a rut whereby we thought that having more money would make us happy.

We were moaning about our lot in life when we heard a crash in the bathroom. My daughter had been having a bath and so we ran to the bathroom.I opened the door to find her slumped on the floor, eyes rolling and body flaccid.I screamed her name and still she did not rouse.My husband attended to her as I could not stay calm.
In those few seconds I believed that something really bad had happened to her,that she had some terrible illness, that I had lost her.
She had actually fainted and suffered nothing more than a few bruises and shock.
The reason for this tale; my daughter may have merely fainted but she could have banged her head on the tiles, the side of the bath, a corner of the unit. This could have been much worse. What do I think? I think we spend too much time in this life striving for material possessions and focusing on the negatives. Yes we are in debt but on the optimistic side we can now get out of it. Yes my daughter fainted and bruised herself but thank god it wasn't worse than that. There is more to life than death and taxes there is spending quality time with your family, friends and valuing what you do have however modest it may be. It is having a life that may not always be easy but by learning and growing from our experiences (whether it be a negative or positive experience)we become richer as individuals.

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