Sometimes we all need a stark reminder to stop and take stock. This week has brought us some truly awful reminders.
Routine can act as a blinkers for us, so that we fail to see the big picture, as we become bound up in the minutiae of careers, and daily life.
Small issues can appear to be insurmountable problems, using up inordinate time and effort to resolve. Familiarity can breed contempt in so many ways, and without conscious thought, we let it. Jobs, relationships, life, can all seem irritating, mundane and yet we need to step back occasionally and recognise their immense value to us.
Sometimes familiarity with something means we actually fail to appreciate its value completely. Health is one of those aspects for us. We are healthy. We don’t take any pills or potions, have any ongoing health conditions and this is a massive plus for us and our lives. We don’t have to arrange repeat prescriptions or doctors’/hospital appointments as we travel. Health allows us to battle tough locks, to comfortably walk miles every day. We don’t give a second thought to our health, and perhaps because we don’t have to think about it, we fail to appreciate the value to us of good health. We are aging like every other human being, but we have the immeasurable benefits of aging in health, and aging together. Whatever the water levels, the drought, pressures of work, demands of tenants, or family concerns, we must not forget those fundamentals, and I for one feel guilty of having done that in recent times.
When the boat feels too small, too full of “stuff”, we can just clear up, recycle, and reduce while actually being reminded of the sheer advantage of being able to clear up rapidly!
This may sound like a Pollyanna reset – frustrating to those who dislike the apparently simplistic approach but however irritating it may be, it is both relevant and true. However it also feels bad to be benefiting in any tangential way from the tragedies of others.
This week alone we shared grief at a dreadful incident that came out of the blue on a family walk. It has left a wife without a husband, a daughter without a father. Their hopes and dreams are in shreds.
We supported a decades-long friend for whom a sudden diagnosis of heart failure means she won’t work again and needs to rethink how she lives. She has the advantage of getting help in time but it has forced changes and worse for her in some ways, having to accept interventions by others in her life.
I celebrated with another friend for whom major surgery has given her the confidence and hope to plan and enjoy thinking ahead.
And as has been the situation monthly for the past 19 years, the Skipper continues to travel to support his mum, now in her 90s, so she can live independently in her home.
It is fortunate that we have health to help others, and knowing how fragile that health can be makes us grateful for every moment. We have family who love and support us, and fabulous friends. Recognising that we are fortunate stops us building resentment, whether against the drought or the rain, but brings appreciation for each element for what it brings.
We have travelled this week because we can. Because there is water to do so where we are and because we wanted to make sure nothing major stands in our way if and when the closed locks ahead are opened. We have travelled to enjoy travelling, the wildlife, the changing views, the new locations to moor, the feel of wind on our faces combined with either sun or rain, or in some cases – both!
En route we have paused to admire the sunsets, crawled out at some unearthly hour to admire the sunrise (so we could get to volunteering commitments on time), and tried to appreciate what we have rather than aspiring for what we don’t or can’t have.
Are we merely playing Eleanor Porter’s Glad Game? If it makes our lives feel richer and more contented, we shall play on! Maybe if more of us played the Glad Game with the positives we have politicians would not be investing time and public money planning campaigns to make us all feel more upbeat about our lives. Life is too short to worry about things we can’t influence, but we should invest time and effort in those things we can’t influence change or those we enjoy. Time is very precious and we must remember that next time a moan rises to our lips.
Oscar Wilde said, “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” This week has brought us up short to recognise the value of the life we are fortunate to live, and the value of being able to live it without feeling ashamed of doing so.
Pickingupducks 