Be Present – Right Now!
This message is becoming ever-stronger in my life and I’ve had another nudge (or kick) in this direction this long Waitangi weekend.
Work is important to us, I accept that. It provides the vital form of exchange that we need to sustain ourselves on this planet and hopefully, there’s enough left to help us achieve our dreams and potential. Some of us do this well, some of us, not so. Over the years, I’ve had instilled in me robust values that have provided me with a reliable internal compass over the years. One of these includes putting others before yourself. (Thanks Mum and Dad, my grandparents, wider family, and my many supportive employers). As a self-employed person, this mostly means putting your clients and customers’ first. Translate this to work hard. What I’m learning, at an accelerated pace now, is in times of distress or pressure this may not always be a useful value. In fact, at any time this is a great value, as long as you look after yourself first. Putting others’ first all of the time may mean you end up depleting yourself and this can happen without any external event or pressure.
The last few weeks have provided me with the lessons I’ve needed to start shifting this the direction of the internal compass, as I’m obviously not where the universe wants me to be. Hubby had an injury a couple of weeks back which gave us both a fright. He’s back on his feet and pretty much 100% now thank goodness, however it was a bit of a frightener for us both as to how fragile we are. And that we’re not super man and wonder woman. This weekend we’ve had another reminder of the fragile paradox of life as we’ve had to say ‘goodbye’ from this earth to our beloved fur-baby Miss Scamp. This one has knocked us both – more heavily than we thought.
Too often it seems more important to complete the job, get the work out and push on to achieve the next milestone. Now here I am, sitting at my desk in the middle of a public holiday figuring out how much I can push off until tomorrow, or the next day or the next week so that I can be with myself and my grief. And in the grand plan the universe has, will the work even matter?
Message received and understood. Today I’ve made time to sit in the sun, enjoy the heat on my face, have a conversation with our other fur babies about the meaning of life – as if I could tell a cat anything! I’m looking through photos and remembering our fun times together – the five of us now four. Our domestic cats sure have it together don’t they? A couple of meals a day, great company, a warm bed at night, sleep for most of the day, doze for the rest, converse and socialise when they feel like it and concern themselves only with what concerns them. Right here and right now. They know how to move on after a scrap. They know when it’s time to eat and when it’s time to play. They’re much smarter than we think – especially our beloved Scamp. I’m sure there’s some lessons there as to how I can live even more in the ‘now’. For one – be more like a cat! Thanks Miss Scamp – you have a piece of our hearts with you.
by Barbara Jaques
6 February 2017