If you are anywhere in SEQ or Northern NSW you would have been (or still are) affected by the most recent floods. It seemed too have just come out of nowhere, blindsiding all of us. While there are thousands still just trying to survive, watching their homes and belongs get destroyed by nature, the sunshine coast has already begun it’s clean up.
There are two things I have taken away from this latest disaster. The first is that Mother Nature cannot be controlled. She is powerful and defiant. constantly reminding us that she can do whatever she wants. I am always in awe of how this world works. How one minute it can be pouring rain and the next blue skies. It really brings our ‘worldly’ issues into perspective.
The second thing I have taken from this is how incredibly lucky we are to live in this country. There is a pedestrian bridge that crosses a river just as you exit our town. For two days, it was completely submerged as the river rushed over it, trapping debris all throughout its handrails. As the waters subsided and the bridge became visible again, I noticed that it was impassable. The railings had been bent and broke by the force of the river, logs and rubbish had been snagged and now covered the path through. Not a major issue, and I thought it would perhaps be repaired in a week or so, when the council ‘got around to it’. As I was returning from my grocery trip (an event that took over three hours), I looked over at the bridge just to have another look at the damage. Only there was none. The rubbish and debris had been cleaned up and the railings repaired. Now you may not think much of this at all but for me, it was such a sharp reminder of how blessed we are as a nation. Something that may seem so insignificant was so quickly attended to. In fact, as I drove the streets, I saw the flashing lights of repair works everywhere. Washed away roads where quickly being fixed, bridges cleared and repaired, potholes filled in. Even on the Sunday, one day after the worst of it (that Sunshine Coast got) I saw council workers already repairing what they could.
For those of you who have grown up in Australia, you wouldn’t really think twice about this. Actually, you are probably thinking ‘so they should that’s what we pay taxes for’. And yes, it is. But for a lot of countries around the world (where taxes are still paid) this would be unbelievable.
There is no perfect government, in fact I don’t actually believe there ever will be. But I can safely say we have a pretty good one. Is there room for improvement? Yes, there always is and will be in very aspect of life. But what we have, how we live is so good. We are so blessed in this country and the saddest part about it is that most of us don’t even realise it. Being an immigrant makes you recognise the abundance that this nation has and gives back to its people because you know how the other side lives.
So, in all of this devastation that is still to come when the water recedes and communities start to rebuild, we must try to remember how lucky we still are. Nothing is insignificant and that little bridge symbolises that.