Lucky and unlucky

Sometimes you lose sight of the bigger picture.

One of my blog followers reminded me yesterday that while there’s no power at my house following Sydney’s cyclonic storms, at least I’ve had rain. She lives in a country area that’s still facing Level 5 water restrictions.

I was also admonished by a workmate for moaning about having no electricity or hot water when some people have no roof.

So I was much more stoic last night about sitting in the darkness.

It reminded me that we are all lucky and unlucky, at the same time, all in different ways, all to different degrees.

Let’s take my life for example …

I still have no power, but I was offered everything from a free hotel room for the night to dinners and hot showers by friends and family yesterday.

I’m not looking forward to cleaning the rotting food out of the fridge and freezer, but I can afford to buy takeaway.

My daughter has chronic eczema and allergies, but she’s a vibrant Australian champion skipper.

I mourn the loss of my first-born’s birth name, but celebrate his amazing talent as an artist.

I wish I had a second bathroom when the kids are hogging and defiling the current one, but I’m fortunate to live in a nice suburb so close to the city.

I loathe the emotional rollercoaster that my perimenopausal hormones are putting me through, but those hormones … albeit at different levels … allowed me to fall pregnant and mother two children.

I wish there was more money in my bank account, but my children want for very little.

I worry about not being liked, but I am surrounded by people who love me.

I was devastated when my husband walked out on my marriage, but it meant I found my spunky DD.

I often feel incredibly tired, but I’ve had a battery of medical tests and I am in good health.

You get the idea.

Meanwhile, this was yesterday’s word from Ausgrid on the power situation: “Power has been restored to 53,000 homes and businesses since yesterday but 87,000 customers remain without power, primarily in Sydney’s north, northern beaches, eastern suburbs, south and south west; the Central Coast and Newcastle.

“Ausgrid says it was one of the biggest storms experienced on its network in 20 years.

“Repair crews are trying to render safe 3,000 hazards to the electricity network, including downed power lines, fallen trees, damaged wires and extensive flash flooding.

“All available crews are in the field, working hard to restore power once locations are declared safe, but residents need to be prepared for outages into the week.

“Ausgrid is bringing in additional qualified crews from across the state to restore power as quickly as possible.”

The tree that took out my power was only recently removed, so I’m presuming we still haven’t made it to the top of the to-do list.