Today the world woke up to the terrorist attacks in Brussels. It seems that a week does not pass without some awful terrorist attack somewhere. Last week it was Istanbul where a suicide bomber killed three Israelis and an Iranian. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Turkey is “awash with terrorism” and the President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would use all its military and intelligence might to battle “one of the biggest and bloodiest terrorist waves in its history”. Why is this in my gratitude series? It is a good question, but a harder one was what to choose to be grateful for today. The flip side to terrorism, to death and pain is joy and life. I am grateful for that. For kindness, for every breathe. Today as I watched the news of the terrorist attacks in Brussels on the BBC I looked at my nearly one-year-old son. As he watched the screen he did not know what was happening. He was just fascinated by the lights and the noise. A panic started to rise in me. What kind of world is my son growing up in? The thought made me feel sad and I felt even more protective towards this beautiful little bundle.
But we must find the positive. The beauty in life. We must carry on and not let the terrorists win. They want us to be scared. To feel fear and change our behaviour. To hate each other and be sad. But we won’t. We will persevere. We will find the joy, the love, we will carry on with our lives. Today I am grateful for that.
Catch up on other days:
What are you grateful for?