Its March 29th 2026. A regular cold spring day, sunny periods, rainy showers and a very cold wind. Nothing remarkable. Except that today my Dad would have been 100 years old, and his memory takes me back to childhood years.
We lost my Dad in 1990, before my younger 2 daughters were born although I was pregnant with my third daugher at the time. I have now been without him longer than I was with him in life. What a strange concept.
I was very fortunate and had a happy, safe and secure childhood. I feel people we love and respect in life remain with us and I still remember things my Dad told and taught me, although sometimes it feels like a completely different world then, to the one we now live in.
I grew up in the 60's and 70's. Our family life was traditional and by today's ideas 'old fashioned'. My Mum was a 'housewife', and if you asked her in her 90's she would have said
she was happy, content and secure. Just happy looking after the home and the family - which she did with great ease and skill. Prior to having children she was a PA at the BBC, so in todays world she 'gave up her career,' but she never thought of it like that, she felt she moved into another phase of life's rich tapestry.
My Mum had the ablity to be 'content' throughout her life. She rarely strived for things beyond her reach and was not envious of those who had or 'acheived' more, and that contentment in itself brought her more contentment.
We know from our yoga teachings one of the prerequisitesto the state of 'yoga' is contentent. Santosha, the second niyama in yoga philosophy, means complete contentment and inner satisfaction. It is the practice of gratitude, accepting the present moment, and finding joy without relying on external possessions or achievements. It is not passive resignation, but cultivating an "enoughness" mindset while still pursuing goals. Why is it in today's society that 'envy' of others seems to be so high on the list and discontentment for what we don't or can't have so high? Could this have a role to play in our huge increases in mental health issues?
When grew up we had no washing machine, but a hand mangle for the clothes, no dishwasher, instead it was 'family' washing up, drying and putting away with conversation and fun, a tiny fridge, no freezer. Daily visits to the shops for fresh food and only one car for the family that was considerably smaller than 4X4's we see on our roads now.
I can't help feel that the expectations of what is an 'acceptable standard of living' today is actually out of reach and beyond the reality of what is possible or indeed 'healthy'. It makes us all discontent and fundamentaly less happy that we could be.
We lost Mum just a few months ago in November 2025. She was a widow for well over 30 years and managed life with the stoicism so often found in those who lived through the difficult times of World War II. I intend to follow the example - I hope I can.
My Dad was the 'breadwinner', working in the city of London as a chartered accountant. Regular as clockwork, out of the house by 8.15am driving into the City and back home by 6.15pm, Monday to Friday, only 2 weeks annual holiday back then, and just Christmas Day and Boxing Day not the week or even two that we seem to expect now.
He knew the streets of London like the back of his hand, and would probably have passed the Black Cab 'knowledge test'. Of course no Satnav, instead an incredible ability to know where he was and what direction to go in. Traffic jams were not to be tolerated and if there were more than 3 cars stopped up ahead he would turn off and find a back street way round. Not something I seem to have developed and on thinking about it, of course not, with the reliance of 'tools' such as satnav/google maps etc to do it for me, how could I?? But think of the angst created when the 'tool' is not available.
Weekends were cleaning the car, DIY around the house and garden, a trip with me and my brother to a place of interest, perhaps a famous cathedral, a museum, an exhibition, the library to find books of interest. And no TV - we didn't have one!!! Very simple and without grandeur but steady and content. 'Anxiety' in those days was not a term we heard daily or even at all and certainly not as a condition so readily accepted as 'normal' these days.
Dad was also a 'Philatelist' - better known as a stamp collector - well more than that he was well known in the stamp collecting world and was instrumental in the running of the 'National Philatelic Society' in the 70's and 80's. Everyone with an interest in stamp collecting knew of my Dad.
As a hobby it was absorbing, educational and with endless sidelines to explore. It involved finding out about different countries where they are in the world, history, politics, languages, reading. There were stamps in just about every room of the house, and they used to fall out of his wallet when he opened it and he would say with surprise - "ooh I was looking for that one".
Stangely, I found myself watching an old 1980's episode of 'Family Fortunes' last month and one of the questions for the families was to name popular hobbies. The second most popular answer that 100 people has been asked was 'Philately'. I don't think if 100 people got asked what philately even is nowadays anyone would actually know! How things have changed in just 50 or 60 years.
Looking back I would say his 'hobby' was a very good form of 'meditation', and a form of meditation so much overlooked in our modern world. We label 'Meditation' as something we 'should do' and we try to find a 'Meditation Class'.
We often see 'Meditation' as a solution to the problem. Perhaps we could have avoided the problem in the first place, had we found something absorbing and out of the 'full on' world of 'stimulation', of social media that hooks us into the 'following' of other peoples choice of dinner/car/holiday destination, and the bombardment of giving opinion/feedback/reviews on everything. No wonder we are an exhausted population.
A simpler way might be to find a quiet absorbing 'pass time', (the clue is in the word - 'pass' time) whatever it might be and Meditation will come to you!
Things in the 60's and 70's were far from ideal in many ways, but find me a decade that everyone thought was great and without issues. However, I do feel looking back might help us today a little more than we think, and giving consideration to the simplicities of life would, I am sure, only do us good.
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