What we need.

​There are two types of day – those that go your way, and those that don’t.

I saw a small post which reflected on the idea that trying to be positive isn’t always the best thing to do. And for a long time, I’ve relfected on the need to experience a whole range of emotions in order to truly appreciate being alive. You cannot be happy without too being sad.

So when my passport was denied last week at check-in, and I had to leave my boyfriend at the airport, watching him pass through security it was awful and heartwrenching. It was truly a bad day. But it was also beautiful and brought us together – an event beyond our control that for once just revealing our emotions was enough.

I set about rectifying the situation, and spent a few days in London in the company of friends. I visited galleries that had long been on the to-do list. Drank coffee, and worked on my writing. Had beers with friends I hadn’t seen for ages. And most importantly attempted to get a new passport.

The most frustrating thing wasn’t the situation, but the knowledge that it was out of my control. There was no more I could do, save jump through the hoops of the Passport Office and put faith in their efficiency, despite the one-week expected lead time. That would have meant that instead of writing this post in Asia, I would only just be arriving.

Last Wednesday was a day that went my way. A text alerted me that my passport would arrive the following day. But then, within an hour or so, the door went. Stood in the frame was a courier holding two small envelopes. One had my old, damaged passport, the other the replacement. Balance, it seemed, had been restored and I flew to Manila, and then on to Bangkok.

On the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok stands the Wat Pho temple, famous for its reclining Buddha. As I walked around I tried to think of who to thank for the turn of events. Could I offer my thanks to something greater than mankind for this journey? Over and over, I tried to grasp something to give thanks towards. Over and over I stumbled.

Instead, I think that there is something far greater than the concept of supreme beings as per the great religions, and that is the silent power of humanity and of nature. We might not always understand the paths we are travelling, but there is a reason for them. It isn’t one entity, but a combination of human compassion, the combined forces of nature and the collaboration of mankind.

At the end of each day, we might not get exactly what we want, but we do get what we need – whether at the time it seems like it or not.