Category: General

Inspiration

What is something others do that sparks your admiration?

There is someone in my life who continues to demonstrate patience, passion and resilience as if from an endless spring. They manage the day to day stresses and trials that life continues to throw at them without shirking or complaining while showing kindness and compassion to those around them. They have done this for decades and continue to do so to this day. This someone has endured life’s hardships while showing gratitude with a smile. I have witnessed them experience the death of two husbands and more recently, cancer and hospitalisation at ninety. They battle on and inspire others with their tenacity and positivity, their ideas, their love and passion. They paint, they sculpt, practice craftwork – in many and varied forms – and sell their work in retail shops indicative of quality and take up. They have worked for the Red Cross, taught in hospitals and brought up a family. Asked whether they would do it all over again and their answer is ‘yes’ without question. This may seem a tall order but they don’t see it as such and they take it all in their stride. Yes, my mother sparks my admiration.

Kid at heart

What does it mean to be a kid at heart?

Reading stories, dreaming and enjoying simple things can be revealing. So too is the spark and special aura of certain unique individuals. They seem to have a wellspring of energy regardless of age. I have only ever met one or two of these in my entire life. They could be described as enlightened. But watch out for the fakes. They can mislead and shroud a troubled spirit beneath the surface. But some people really have a spark, a childlike energy that seems to set them apart. That wellspring of energy, that special something that has nothing to do with status, power or station in life. They attract everyone of course, including the needy, the troubled and equally, repel the narcissist or the politician. They seem immune to social norms, expectations and appear as outsiders. Perhaps we can learn something from them: we can take what we want – the life of an adult – and have the spirit of a child at heart. No, it has nothing to do with wanting and it’s not a shopping list. The enlightened don’t appear to want anything or need anything in particular. They just are.

Tomorrow

What’s your #1 priority tomorrow?

I am waiting on a financial company to transfer a sum of money into my bank account. Their email states that it takes five business days to clear. My financial advisor texts me for an update on the transaction so he can proceed with the steps outlined in the statement of advice from the meeting last week. The window of opportunity is shrinking because: a) the advisor needs to get this through before he leaves for Japan in October, and b) my accountant needs all relevant documents for the end of financial year. This is aside from other pending tasks that are queuing up on a daily basis. Okay, it’s hardly Doctors Without Borders or the World Health Organisation but some things need prioritising.

No doubt this kind of scenario is replicated numerous times only the script is different. Life consists of daily challenges. We are inevitably subject to them. But maybe I can approach them differently. Shift my perception, as it were. If I prioritise on health and wellness – dare I say happiness, I can begin to change the way I see and feel, ever so slightly. A focus on mind & body seems to diminish the problems. Taking time out gives back a hundredfold.

Teacher

What makes a teacher great?

I guess we’ve all had our fair share of the good and the bad (and the ugly, I mean the really bad). Not sure about the school system these days, but in ‘the bad old days’ many teachers could be described as yes, bad. This includes plain bad, badass, too bad, and far gone. (Best left for another discussion).

Occasionally there were exceptions. But rarely. So rare in fact, they stood out like shining beacons in a stormy sea. Somehow you instinctively appreciated their value and actually paid attention. And yes, they seemed to share universal traits. Patience, understanding, empathy, respect and encouragement.

You remember them so many years later as they form part of your understanding and inevitable appreciation of the world.

There is no single method to this, no magic formula, as the best teachers are as different as the subjects they teach.

Ultimately there should be no communication obstruction, no inhibition. This would surely be the communication between mother and child, as ideas and thoughts are conveyed as if by osmosis.