My Parents- Positive and Negative

My parents- just like two batteries: Positive and Negative

I thought I’d share this with you all, because my parents in some ways were total opposites. Just like a battery- one positive and one negative.

My Dad was a worrier, he would imagine all the things that could possibly go wrong in any situation. Sometimes that would stop him doing things that he may have enjoyed, or if he was out of his comfort zone, he would be grumpy and difficult.

My mother is the opposite. She will go anywhere and try most things. She’s 89 in a few days, and she desperately wants to go Antarctica for a holiday, but she can’t get any insurance. She enjoys her cruises and loves stormy weather, while the rest of the passengers are in their cabins groaning with sea-sickness, my mum will be in the café by herself, drinking tea and enjoying the ride.

Here is a story that illustrates not only the difference between them, but what that means in terms of what we can all get out of life, by doing our best to be positive.

About 10 years ago, they were on a cruise up to Bergen in Norway. They had gone ashore in Bergen, but not on an organised tour, mum hates being shepherded around and told what to do. But they had got themselves lost. It was dark, the ship was going to sail in an hour, and ships don’t wait for passengers, they must leave port on time.

Dad was getting angry and panicking, so mum sat him down on a bench and told him to stay there. They were in some kind of commercial district and it seems that most people had gone home. There was an office opposite, with a single light showing at a window.

My mum marched into the office and before he knew what was happening, a hapless Norwegian office worker had been grasped by the elbow by a little old lady and was calling a local taxi to come and take them to the ship. There is a lot of sinewy strength in the grasp of a little old lady.

Dad would have stayed there and panicked. Mum just doesn’t care, if she needs help she asks. She’ll ask anyone, no matter what they look like, and to the surprise of her ‘victim’, they always help her. I fully expect to find her out shopping one day with her trolley being pushed by a sheepish looking local youth, hoodie covering his face while his mates laugh at him.

I guess it illustrates the power of positivity, mum’s glass is always half full.

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