Happy Australia Day. Is that what we’re supposed to say? Anyway, yesterday was full of Aussie cliché’s for me:

The sun was out. I laid in the hammock and listened to music while Maria read in the sun. We rode our bikes along Merri Creek and enjoyed the smell of gum trees. We watched the tennis. I barbecued lamb and wrapped it with tabouli and tzatziki. I walked around the house with my shirt off  (sorry … bad image). It was a great day.

The music I was listening to wasn’t Australian though. I was immersed in the soulful lyrics of British Dido. One of her tunes is the best articulation of contentment I have heard.

“just this life, i need no other

just this day, i need no more

just this moment, let it all stop here

let it all stop here, i’ve had my fill.”

This land is often referred to as the lucky country. Cliché? Yep. True? You betya. We are blessed with extraordinary lifestyle opportunities and freedoms. But maybe I’m really just thankful that in this lucky country I feel like a lucky bloke. So much to live for. So much goodness and beauty around me.

And yet life is fragile. Hence my resonance with Dido’s wisdom. Just this life. I’d had my fill.

I’ve written before about the happy tension between ambition and contentment. Dido helps me. Whatever I wish for. Whatever I slave my guts out to achieve. Whatever I hope for in the world, and my world … if I don’t have anything past today … I’ve had my fill.

May your Australia Day be fill you up.