This, my dear, is what you call an Adventure!

I love the Richard Templar books.

My favourite is rules of life.

Rule 50 - "If you can't say anything nice don't say it at all" recounts a story:

"I remember reading once of someone who was on the Metro in Paris during a major strike. It was chaos and people were shoving and pushing and it was pretty horrendous. There was a woman with a small child there and it could have been quite scary. She bent down to the child and said quite brightly "This, my dear, is what they call an adventure". "

I just love this. What a fantastic way to look at life.

When my daughter looks frightened or nervous I will ask her if she has butterflies and then say "that's good, that adrenaline will help you to do it well". I'm not sure it always works, she seems to have a 'sensitive' streak much like her mum, but I love the thought that something difficult is a challenge to face. That sense of breathing in deep, the few seconds of "I can do this" and then doing it are second to none for me.

I would have loved to have met that lady on the Metro.