A rather up and down one really. 

Saturday was lovely.  Started the day with coffee and croissants on the balcony and then went for a run and swim with Gemma and Jo at Coogee.  This has become one of my favourite things to do.  It is so very beautiful there and really energises me.  After some silliness over lunch with the house I did some studies and then went and had a drink with David at the Blue Gum.  It was a relatively intense conversation but I enjoyed it.  Then I spent the night at mums.  She cooked my favourite Laksa and then we played Scrabble and I actually beat her.  I don’t like to consider myself a seriously competitive person but there is something very satsfying about beating one’s incredibly intelligent mother. 

 Sunday however was less pleasant.  On the way to church we were pulled over by the police for having an unregistered car.  I know I have no excuse but it was less than a week and I did have my green and pink slips I just hadn’t had the time to get to the RTA.  Anyway it turned out to be very expensive mistake and we were left feeling a little stressed for the rest of the day.  We also missed church and I was on prayers and my plans to get the beach again did not eventuate so my annoyed mood  was not all that conducive to effective study as you can imagine.

Thankfully however we had one of the best nights at Rough Edges we had, had for a long time.  It was the night of giving and it was what I needed.  We started out by giving out free coffee for the first half hour which turned out to be fun.  Believe it or not doing this can often casue more problems than benefits but it seemed last night it was all good.  No one tried to take advantage of it by ordering 20 coffees they just graciuosly accepted the gift.  Martin ended up making a donation to ensure Rough Edges still got some money.  I think it was important to him to still be generous depsite the morning’s serious money stress.  He is very inspiring.  Then later that night I was invited to play chess with someone I had not met before.  He was a very gentle spirit and really genuine guy.  I am not a very good chess player so while we were playing he kept giving me tips or allowing me to rethink a move.  When I did do something good he always said, “that’s a good move.” This can often be patronising but it was done so gracefully it wasn’t.  He honestly just wanted to see me improve.  It was a very generous act.  Finally as we were closing a guy came in and bought a cordial.  There was another guy seemingly a bit lost hanging around the counter. Neither of us knew him but the guy turns to him and asks if he wants a cordial.  Obviously he did so the guy bought him one.  It only cost 20c but it again it was done so gracefully, it seemed so generous. 

All this had me thinking that we really never are too poor that we can’t give something and I think that we need to be able to give things.  I hear people say and the natural human drive is selfish and I guess there is a lot around to back that up but maybe deep down humans need to be able to serve each other.