Life is difficult. And the Rule is to thank God^* it is so. If it was all fluffy and easy we wouldn’t be tested, tried, forged in the fire of life. We wouldn’t grow or learn or change, or have a chance to rise above ourselves. If life were a series of lovely days, we’d soon get bored. If there was no rain, then there wouldn’t be any feeling of great joy when it finally stopped and we could go to the beach. If it was all easy we couldn’t get stronger.

So, be thankful it is a struggle some of the time, and recognize that only dead fish swim with the stream. For the rest of us there will be times when it’s an uphill, upstream struggle. We will have to battle waterfalls, weirs and raging torrents. But we have no choice. We have to keep swimming or get swept away. And each flick of our tail, each surge of our fins makes us stronger and fitter, leaner and happier.

There is a statistic that suggests that for a lot of men, retirement is a really bad idea. Lots of them die within a relatively short time of handing in their briefcase.^** They have ceased to swim against the current and get swept away. Keep swimming, little fish, keep swimming.

Try to see each setback as a chance to improve. They make you stronger, not weaker. You only get burdened with as much as you can carry – although I do appreciate that at times it may seem as if it’s a whole lot more. And of course the struggles don’t come to an end, but there are lulls in-between times – backwaters where we can rest for a while and enjoy the moment before the next obstacle gets thrown our way. And that’s what life is, what it is meant to be: a series of struggles and lulls. And whatever situation you’re in now, it’s going to change. So what are you in? Lull or struggle? Rain or going to the beach? Learning or enjoying? Dead fish or healthy salmon?