“Life is hard” muttered my 8 year old from the back of the car as I drove her to school one morning. This girl is far too intuitive and emotionally intelligent! Unknowingly, she echoed the first line: “ Life is difficult”, from one of my fave books- The Road less travelled by M Scott Peck.
Thinking to myself about how hard life can be sometimes, I always remember Gratitude. Gratitude, and being thankful makes my life feel more relevant, helps me to LIVE in the PRESENT, appreciate and exude that appreciation and love, and in turn “hard” bits of life, won’t be that hard, or, at least not for long… we can simply think, feel, pray/ believe in better, be positive. By following actions, we will receive a life ‘less hard’… but does an easy life exist? Buddhists believe life can be hard, and that suffering exists, enters our lives but can be banished through wisdom and prayer/meditation. At the heart of any religion is this emphasis on being thankful and giving back (charity), and I’m sure we’ve all noticed times in our lives when we have ‘given back’, done a good deed, and maybe, not straight away, but in time something/ someone pops into our lives to help…
So anyhoo, in the car, nearly at school, I said; “You don’t really believe life is hard”, reminding her of all she had in her life- from the sweet smell of candyfloss she loves, grandma’s ackee and saltfish, Andre’s fried dumplings, having a family get together, birthday parties, playing ‘big sister’ to her baby cousins- to playing on her big trampoline in the garden, to all those special moments with family and friends. Reminding her of the importance of the things and people she has around her… “life is not hard for you madam,” I said, think of all the things you’re grateful for….she paused, I could tell her brain was ticking over….- “not so bad really?” I said. “But tell me, what is so hard?” guess what my daughter was referring to?, - she couldn’t do a maths problem at school!! Is that it!?? I was thinking. I told her, “baby- You CAN do it- GOD doesn’t give you anything u can’t handle there IS an answer- and you can find it”- - and in that moment, in my PJs, hair uncombed and resigned to yet another day spending hours job hunting (after being out of work for a long time), and receiving more email generated rejections ‘ I’m sorry but after close consideration, your application has been unsuccessful’…., I took a deep breath in and exhaled….and took my own advice…
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Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
"Life is hard" according to my 8 year old!
Monday, 14 March 2011
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gratitude,
hard,
Life,
meditation,
prayer,
suffering,
thankful
Let yourself go
...and the rest will follow!
Like myself, I’m sure that you can recall the number of times that someone has told you the same advice or words to that sentiment, and if you’re anywhere near as stubborn and ridiculously uptight as myself you’ve listened but not absorbed. It reluctantly forced its way in one ear, but easily glided out of the other. As one of my friends often says to me, “Yuh bruk stick ina yuh ears!” (Jamaicans and their sayings!) But not necessarily because you’ve disregarded the wisdom, more so because in itself it seems too difficult to act upon.
Like myself, I’m sure that you can recall the number of times that someone has told you the same advice or words to that sentiment, and if you’re anywhere near as stubborn and ridiculously uptight as myself you’ve listened but not absorbed. It reluctantly forced its way in one ear, but easily glided out of the other. As one of my friends often says to me, “Yuh bruk stick ina yuh ears!” (Jamaicans and their sayings!) But not necessarily because you’ve disregarded the wisdom, more so because in itself it seems too difficult to act upon.
I mean what would become of life if we consciously decided to loosen the reigns? If our sole purpose was to go against the grain and rebel against the constraints of society, and in a lot of cases our own culture? To put it simply, life would actually be a lot more fun. I can’t guess how many or if any of you reading may have had any liberating experiences recently, but I definitely have when I decided to go ahead with the ‘BC’ or Big-Chop as it may be known to some of you. To realise what stirs happiness in your heart, I learned that the best way is to rid yourself of all inhibitions. Take a chance and capture the essence of the beautiful moment in hand and the many that will inevitably follow.
As I said to my two friends before writing this post, “Happiness is a self construct,” and however abstract that may sound you’ll be able to attribute some personal meaning to it. One of my fellow bloggers, Selina mentioned happiness being a birth-right and it is, but before you can fully reap the benefits of elation you need to know what makes you happy and stand up for it. It’s a known fact that you can never please everyone all of the time, but why would you want to anyway? That's hard work! Please YOU first and like I said, the rest of it will fall neatly into place.
