Will

Have you ever noticed how some people are way more stubborn than others? We wrap up this character trait in other terms - determined, driven, willful, headstrong, persevering - but they all mean the same thing. This filled my thoughts this morning, as I prised aching muscles and a fuzzy head out of bed earlier than normal. Clothes left out the night before hung on tired limbs, and the door shut behind me into blinding sunshine. An hour and a half, two bottles of water and much sweat later, I reach my destination. Cool azure water, shouting children, the Sunday paper and a good friend greet me. I'm overwhelmed - sunshine this good belongs in Italy, Greece, Spain, not in North London! I'm reminded of a cold winter's day, walking with my gorgeous sister on the heath, looking for Parliament Hill. We walked and walked, hands grew stiff and breath floated white on the air. Three hours past, yet my pleading to stop, give up already, was ignored. She was bashful, alive, determined, stubborn... Yet she was right, eventually we gradually ascended to the rounded peak. We stood, catching our breath in the cold and allowed the horizon to scan our eyes. At the bottom of the hill there was a pool, grey water lapped to the edges and the wind caressed a spiritless surface. Another day, another season. It feels like another life.