this advent is celebrating things that make us happy, and there is very little that makes me happier than seeing a colourful rainbow across the sky.

I have always loved rainbows.  I love the way they appear when you are least expecting them, nature and science combining to brighten up a grey sky.  I love that you have to have sunshine and rain to make a rainbow reminding me that in nature as in life everything is connected and working in unison.  I love the way they have no end, stay for as long as they do and they are out of our control.

A bright and beautiful arch of colour in the sky gives me a hope for better things to come.  I have seldom seen a rainbow without being reminded of happy times, and always they are a symbol of goodness.

When I first met my husband we spent a lot of time in cars driving across the UK.  Almost every trip we made, be it in the south, in London town, in the hills and at the coast, we almost always saw a rainbow.  They seemed to follow us around, constantly affirming what we already knew, life was getting better.  It was as if the world was smiling on us. All these years later, we have had our ups and downs but rainbows still appear and always make me feel peaceful and happy.

I remember as a child being fascinated, when one day, I found a rainbow in a puddle.  I excitedly told Mum this miracle in the gutter, she explained that is was oil on the street mixing with rain making colours.  I have no idea if that is true but it is what I believed her and marvelled  once again the mixture of such different things creating something beautiful.

When faced with difficulties in an impossible job a colleague and I used to have a saying to get us through the tricky times.  ‘Rainbows and fluffy things’ was our code for, it isn’t all bad, the world has lots of good things to offer.  It does indeed.

May your rainy days be followed by sunshine and may your heart be lifted by the colours in the sky.