What a start to the day. First thing I get woken by a torrent of text messages telling me the company website has gone AWOL and needs restarting, again. Fortunately, Super Dan has written a magic little application to automate the restart procedure, sadly I had the wrong URL to get into it. Super Guy came to the rescue and did the necessary.
Having had half an hour to get the sleep out of my eyes I popped to the loo before loading up the washing machine for the weeks laundry. As the machine started I became aware of the sound of running water. Not unusual in the circumstances, but it sounded wrong. Tracing the source of the sound, I was horrified to find that part of the cistern had broken in the en-suite, flooding the wall, curtains, roller-blind and carpets.
I managed to subdue the geyser of freezing water using a few pieces of cooking foil and made a hasty call to the plumber. He said he would be round shortly, so having mopped up as best I could, I decided to make sure that my Sky box was set up to record the FA Cup football later in the day.
Now normally it would take a couple of seconds to access the EPG and set the programs to record, but not today. For some inexplicable reason the box had decided to reset itself to default settings, and it took me quite a while to sort everything out. Surely things could only get better from here on in?
The news from Dave the plumber was not the best. He was going to have to get the spare part needed to fix the problem, so although he was able to isolate the loo, allowing me to turn the water back on, it’s going to be Tuesday or Wednesday before it’s fixed properly. Still, it will take that long, at least, before the carpets are able to dry out fully.
Fortunately the rest of the day was far more enjoyable. A trip to Westbourne, including a bimble round the Mind, Body, Spirit shop and the discovery of a very tasty fig and hazelnut bread in M&S lifted to spirits, no pun intended. Then a walk along the beach, after a much needed coffee at Branksome Chine, before heading home to catch a great movie, made the horrors of the morning pale into insignificance.
Always good to look on the bright side of life. Where have I heard that before?
So that was that then. 
I have to report, that for the majority of people I know, with the exception of a couple of high points, 2012 has been a year of sadness, and one that most will be happy to see gone.
Religion must teach an “attitude to life.” To live a life of true human dignity is certainly difficult.
There is no self-improvement without effort.
Buddhism, which is founded on the law of cause and effect, stresses the concept of karma. This principle explains that life at each moment is subject to the cumulative effects of causes made in the past.
Sometimes we need to wipe the slate clean, take a deep breath, and start anew. With the New Year just around the corner, this might just be the perfect time to do so. Having new goals, new horizons and renewed vigour is just the ticket.
Sometimes we become involved in other people’s problems, whether we want to be, or not. At times like this, Wisdom, Courage and Compassion are needed, but in a slightly different way than when we have problems of our own.
Finally, after what feels like a month, Friday has finally got here. Having battled with this cough and cold all week, seemingly pretty ineffectively, it’s been a very long week. Monday wasn’t the best, but today has been even more challenging.
I feel really sorry for my neighbours today. I spent most of the night trying, and failing, to stop coughing myself stupid. Despite doses of cough mixture, each time I lay down to sleep, that tickle came back and I found myself having to get up to stop the coughing fit.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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