Beautiful England

Although I was born and bred in London, growing up, I loathed the UK. I hated the weather, the food, the rubbish all over the streets, everything. On the other hand, I absolutely loved my parents’ homeland. I loved the sunshine, the sea, the scenery, the people, everything, so much so that I planned to move there as soon as I finished my University degree. But then I met my husband so I ended up staying here. Although I never regretted my decision, a part of me always wished that I lived in another country.

But one day someone said to me. “You know, I’ve been to many cities around the world but London is the most beautiful of all.” I remember thinking, ‘Yeah right’ but then the next time I went out to the City with my husband, I started seeing things with new eyes. I noticed the historic and impressive buildings, the lovely lights at night, the beautiful greenery and gardens everywhere. For the first time, I felt excited to be here, I felt like a tourist.

How many times do we choose to look at the bad in everything? We look at only the negative things around us when there are so many things to marvel at. We look at others and choose to ignore the good qualities and just pick on the bad stuff, as though we were perfect. And then there are those times when we give ourselves a hard time. We beat ourselves up about the wrong decisions of the past, the mistakes made today, even for the way we look. We forget about everything we’ve achieved and overcome, what we’ve learned from our mistakes and that if we look closely enough, there is always something beautiful about us.

I’ve finally learnt to love the UK and I will adopt this attitude wherever the wind takes us.