My head is buzzing with a million memo's, taking our Pig in a Day Workshop on the road suddenly seems a big task. What if I forget a sausage stuffer, the cures, oh no what if I forget the casings, my words, what if I choke and stand nervous with no voice in front of everyone......My mind races as I try and tick of the checklist of items we need. Its hard to focus as alongside this I have another dialogue running, have the kids got what they need, did I remember to change the sheets for the house sitter, have I got enough cat food left. Everything is planned and slotted together to make sure I get all the jobs and tasks done.
Many lives are like mine these days - BUSY! In Between homeschooling 3 children, running a household, running a business and helping out at a friends cafe, plus don't forget the cats, dogs, horses, chickens and one duck, all of which need taking care of daily, of course life also throws curve balls at me while you are juggling all that and it can get hectic. I can find myself constantly on the run. Its so easy to become preoccupied that I miss what's in front of me.
Suddenly as I prepare for our trip I am aware of the sea not 5 meters from me. Its high tide, not once have I glanced at it since I came out to the car and trailer to organise packing. I stop what I am doing, turn around and look. I look at the sea shimmering, racing to the shore, heaving itself up, curling over then diving onto the shells causing them to chink together creating a wonderful sound. Just a little way off shore a bird glides just above the calm surface searching for food below. Its warm and the breeze is soft and comforting. The hills stand as always, like a fortress surrounding me, keeping out the real world and keeping in this majestic view as old as time. And for a moment my soul rests, my mind quiets and I think someone should pinch me, do I really live here!?
The other day in the middle of the mayhem that so often is my day I got a coffee at the lovely Chalfont Cafe and instead of having it on the run as usual I took it out on the deck. In the less than 5 mins I sat there, bathed in golden sun, looking at the creators canvas with its green lawn, framed by tall gently whispering trees, dwarfed by the hills rising to the vast blue above, bellbirds kindly sang me from a branch while a couple of sparrows and a finch tentatively hopped across the deck to see what I was up to, if I could be persuaded to give a crumb or two. Right there in just a few stolen moments time slowed down, I breathed more easily and I felt that all was well.
They used to call it "Stopping to smell the roses". Taking just that moment to take in what's before you, enjoying it. It can be so easy to overlook.
One of the best things I ever did in my life was keep a gratitude diary. I started it during in a difficult time and I made myself think of three things I was grateful for that day, no matter how small, before I went to bed each night. At that time some days seemed so dark and that idea that there was something to be grateful for seemed impossible. Taking that moment to forget about the deadlines, the failures, the burnt dinner or whatever had happened that day and to focus on something good had a power affect on me. Stopping each day and searching for the roses I would otherwise of missed. I never failed to find something, even if it was as small as a smile someone gave me.
So what ever difficult time you find yourself in, or however busy you are keep your eye open for those roses in your life, study your childs face for a moment when he smiles, give the dog a few moments of your time, stop the car and sit down somewhere outside to have your coffee note the changing colours of the trees, the fantail flittering above. Once thing I have found is these moments add up and can change my outlook. If you are overwhelmed, feeling down, tired of the rat race look for those small moments of beauty in your day, so small they are normally missed but still with the power to change you. The power to take you from stressed, suffering from tunnel vision to at peace and captivated by fragrance of the rose and thinking "someone pinch me now...."
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