Lessons of the past must not be ignored in Iran - Christa Ackroyd

I was going to write about the happy coincidence that led my two adored granddaughters to have the puppy of their dreams.

How a year to the week since my closest friend died having spent decades together, I am now finally at peace with the fact that that is exactly where she is. At peace.

And I am happy to talk to her photograph every day as we did in life.

I have trips and meet-ups with friends and plans in a couple of months to welcome a new baby horse while worrying that my car is sounding a bit poorly but remains drivable at present.

Nothing major and lots to look forward to.

But then came war – or what looks very much like war. You know me, I am not a head in the sand kind of a person.

And if I were not deeply concerned you would think I had lost my marbles and changed my name to Pollyanna.

But I really do not know how to process the events of this week. Or how I feel about them.

And for a moment at least I am finding it difficult to concentrate on the positive experiences of this past week. Though that is what I am determined to do. For my sanity.

That the regime in Iran needed both challenging and changing is without question.

It has been at the forefront of an appalling violation of the rights of its citizens to make their own choices in how they live and how they are governed for too long. Dissenters are arrested or worse still, killed.

Thousands upon thousands of them. Those killings have been classified as crimes against humanity and potential genocide by the United Nations and humanitarian organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch who have long called for international investigation and accountability.

Women in Iran are forced to cover themselves in public. The civil code grants men control over their rights to travel, work and reside.

There are no real laws to protect them from sexual harassment or domestic violence, though many have bravely challenged the status quo and live in fear of having done so, or worse still have faced the consequences.

So I am not weeping if a large and significant proportion of Iran’s leaders have been removed.

What I am concerned about is how it has happened and that once again we are being dragged into a major significant escalation of the threat of a full scale war by our so called allies.

Leaving us damned if we do and damned if we don’t.

As someone who lives within spitting distance of one of America’s early listening stations and not too far from a number of army barracks I am very much aware that it could affect us here in Yorkshire and counting daffodils will not stop that from happening.

My own daughter was due to fly back through the Middle East next week for a family funeral. Even if she could I have told her to stay put.

I have friends living in Dubai and another working at the heart of the coverage for Al Jazeera in Doha all reporting the sound of war going on around them.

But I have no idea what the plan is going forwards, if indeed there is a plan. Lessons of the past must not be ignored.

We were dragged into the war with Iraq because of a claim found to be unsubstantiated of weapons of mass destruction.

In other words nuclear bombs and capabilities. As I understand it Iran would like to have them but has signed a treaty saying they won’t. Is that treaty now torn up? How will American military action prevent them from being built ?

I am also mindful we went into Afghanistan at the behest of America at huge cost both in terms of loss of life and money spent and then, as I see it, left with little or no notice, leaving those who had helped us clinging onto departing planes with very little thought of how they would navigate the consequences.

So I cannot ignore what is happening, nor do I trust that the powers that be have a working plan in progress as to how this will end. And so I am powerless and helpless and I don’t know how I feel.

Yet here is the thing. My father always told me to only worry about things I could change and be part of that change.

He told me to make my decisions and spend my days on things I could fix, events I could be part of that would be of benefit to others, that would enhance my life and that of those I care about.

So for now I will concentrate on doing that. I won’t ignore the news - I am no ostrich – but I will ensure I will do everything in my power to remain positive about things I can influence and pray for those involved in situations I cannot, and for those politicians across the world whose responsibilities must be sitting pretty heavy right now.

So let me tell you what my week will entail. I will go on long, long walks with my dogs as the sun sneaks through.

I will pick my grandchildren up from school grateful for a roof over my head in which to feed them and the health to do so.

I will remember my friend by taking flowers to her grave but knowing after being so ill she is in a better place and it is up to me to live my best life on her behalf or she would be bloomin’ furious with me.

I will pick up a paintbrush and continue decorating my little house which seems to get worse not better until I close my eyes and envision what it will be like while telling myself it will all be worth it.

I will arrange to meet a brave friend who has put aside temporarily the grief of the loss of her two young boys at the hands of her violent ex husband and congratulate her for finally getting the end of presumed parental access into a bill passing through parliament right now and being named as one of the top one hundred influencers in Westminster.

While reminding her I will forever know at what cost.

I will feed the homeless, say yes to comparing charity events including a fashion show for those who have fought or are fighting breast cancer and look forward to being uplifted by hundreds of young people in Barnsley who will sing their hearts out for Yorkshire and Great Britain this year in the world choir games if we can raise enough money to send them to do so.

Life is challenging. But it is good.

And if I ever doubt it I will do what my mum taught me and take a piece of paper and right a list of the good and the not so good, knowing as ever the positives will outweigh the negatives.

Because I am lucky to be far away (at present) from conflict and safe in the knowledge that there are always some, at present many, far worse off than we are. Count your blessings.

Stay safe and we will talk again next week.