Anniversaries

I have been married for 24 years to Robert today, and the time certainly goes by quickly. I also happened to read Terry Waites book again, 'Taken on Trust' after a gap of many years reading it for the first time. I read it with new eyes now as I have grown older and I like to think wiser, but more aware of the human mind. He was captured and kept a hostage for five whole years, and only in the last year, and last few months did he have contact with other hostages.

He kept saying to himself, no time for regrets, no sentimentality, no self-pity. These words kept him going in the darkest of hours. He was very ill at times, had an ear infection and had to wait for days to get medication. Imagine that, an ear ache and no help. It was the only thing I could identify with, not have been kept a hostage, but know what an ear ache feels like!

Imagine being away from your family and loved ones for five years. No letters, no calls, nothing to inform you if they were okay.

Although most of us are lucky enough not to have been captured or taken hostage, we sometimes are a hostage of our own mind. If you feel anxious and are not able to go out or do the things you would really like to do, your choices are taken away from you, and you are a hostage of your mind. It plays tricks on you and all the things you would like to do are no longer an option. The worst case hostage of your mind is when you become agoraphobic, and you begin to close down and stay inside. You might not be chained to a radiator as Terry Waite was, but your mind is chained up.