The news was full of rain. Full of economic doom.  Full of American Politicians behaving like kids in the playground, not to mention our own..    Unions were trying to hold the Olympics to ransom in exchange for bonuses, big companies were failing to deliver on their promises.

Suddenly an amazing thing happened.   For once we forgot to self-depricate, and just enjoyed.  We celebrated:
* The spirit of the armed forces and volunteers
* The hard work ethic and modesty of our exceptional athletes
* The ability to turn failure into motivation to succeed (who fails as many times as an athlete?)
* The attention to detail, and the focus on the margins of error to get it right.
* The smiles on every London face
* The culture, the arts, the inventions, the science and that is uniquely British
* The flags on every street corner
* The story behind every amazing para-olympian
* The roar of a huge crowd celebrating success

So as this amazing olympic summer draws to a close, I hope I have helped create some memories for my kids that give them a sense of pride to be British, and understand that the world is a much happier place when we smile.

I hope that, like our Olympians they learn to turn failure into success, and they show the determination, the modesty and the generosity of our athletes and volunteers.  
 
I'm sad its nearly over, but grateful to have been part of something  so special.