The Nagasaki perspective

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Arsenal are top of the league – but you wouldn’t know it by listening to some Gunners fans.

The negativity among many Gooners is so strong that you’d think we were bottom of the league.

We might be top, they say, but we could have done with signing another striker during the transfer window. (And I’d tend to agree.)

We might be top but we’ve so many tough fixtures ahead that we won’t stay there. (And I’d definitely agree.)

We might be top but Wenger doesn’t know what he’s doing. (And I’d completely disagree. Since when was a manager incidental to a club being top of one of the strongest leagues on the planet?)

But the point is – we’re top. There’s not a club in England that would not swap their position for ours.

So why don’t we enjoy it? To me it’s ridiculous to not enjoy being top of the league.

Yet when I look at life, I can see how I frequently don’t appreciate the good times. When I heap layer upon layer of ‘yeah buts’ on moments when life is lovely.

Gratitude is good. I love the saying of Rabbi Nachman that, when you are asked how your life is, if you reply: ‘Great’, God will say: ‘You think this is great?’

When I was at Arsenal on Sunday I saw numerous long faces as we beat Crystal Palace to return to the top of the league. The woman in this photo looks happier than many of the fans at the Emirates that day. And she’s emerging from a bunker in Nagasaki after a nuclear bomb was dropped on the city.

Perspective’s a funny thing. Have a lovely weekend.