It was a pleasure to welcome Maggie Rait – a highly regarded Fettes houseparent and English teacher as well as a former Cargilfield parent – to speak to our older children last week. She encouraged us to be ‘architects of our own resilience’ with tales of a Chinese farmer who keeps his counsel rather bemoaning or celebrating his good/bad luck; or the freezing bird which survives by being covered in cow dung but alerts predators by singing in celebration.

I was especially struck by the story of Midlothian ultra runner, Jasmin Paris, and her experience as she built up to completing the Barkley Marathon – covering 100 miles with 60,000 feet of climb and descent within 60 hours. She became the first woman (and one of only 20 people since 1986) to complete the course successfully.

I take away the words of Victor Frankl, the Austrian psychologist and survivor of Auschwitz, who explained that between stimulus and response lies a gap which we own. We cannot always choose what happens but we can choose how we respond.

I would certainly benefit from remembering that and would encourage you to read more about Jasmin Paris and Victor Frankl. Time spent with Maggie Rait is never wasted.