A New Year always makes us think. It allows us to reassess what is important, our Intentions, how we would like our lives to look different, it gives us a sense of hope that we can make improvements, changes that will allow us to enjoy healthier, happier lives.
This is NOT about being morbid, just about taking the time to really THINK about our lives and how we want it to look.
Wandering around a churchyard we see many graves – the names may mean nothing to me, but I often find myself wondering what they did, how they lived, what were their hopes and aspirations and whether they felt they had lived a good life, a happy life, a fulfilled life. I just find it fascinating, all these people once so loved, now gone, apart from the name, almost every grave stone has the date inscribed upon it ……The first date is our birth, the last date our death, but what struck me as really significant is the ‘dash’ in the middle.
How appropriate is that?? We call it a ‘dash’ and in many ways, that is exactly what our lives can be if we are not careful.
After we leave the blissful years of childhood behind, where our days endlessly stretched out before us, the summer holidays really did feel like months away from school, and Christmas was always so far away. Life seemed to be slow and meandering, very few worries and so much joy and wonder at so many new things. Leaving those childhood days was rather like a gear shift, because from then on, a lot of our lives are spent racing towards the next stage.
We no longer want to be a child but are desperate to become teenagers,
eager to be treated like adults,
cannot wait to leave school and really embark on our lives.
Some of us rushing off to University, others maybe impatiently wanting to get out into the world of work, get a job and our first home.
It’s not long before we find ourselves settled down, maybe engaged, planning a marriage, planning a child or one just turning up anyway!
The days all merge into one in the early days of a new baby, with sleepless nights and endless feeding.
We wish for times to get easier, and before we know it, they are walking and talking, and although we adore our little darlings, it is with some relief that they go to nursery, and in a blink of an eye, on to school.
How busy life has got with all the activities they are doing, dashing from one thing to the next, feeding, cleaning, making sure homework is done, filling the days so full – no wonder many of us seek refuge on the sofa in the evening!
Back to work might be on the horizon and along with that comes the juggling nightmare, the guilt of not always being there for our children, the constant tiredness, the wishing and waiting for the one, or if we are lucky, two holidays per year!
We try to be positive, it won’t be long until they are more independent, catching the bus to school, driving themselves to sixth form (the worry that goes along with that!).
Then before we know it, we’re packing them up to go off to University, patting ourselves on the back for a job well done!
We pause and take a breath – phew that really was a ‘dash’ …..that bit in between the date of my birth and the date of my death – was that really my only option? Did I really have to make my life such a race ?
Could I – should I – have just slowed it all right down, taken the time to discover who I am, taken the time to find out what I wanted, taken the time to understand my purpose in life, taken more time to enjoy the simpler, less hectic things in life?
Time is the one thing you never get back, the most precious gift we have,
but we can slow time down ……..by not looking back and regretting, by not looking forward and worrying,
BUT, by enjoying where we are right here, right now and by living the life that you want to live, not tomorrow or next week or next year, because the only right time to do what you want is now!
No more excuses – if you’re reading this, you are lucky enough to be living the bit in between the date of your birth and the date of your death, you are living your ‘dash’ – what does your ‘dash’ say about you?
Make it a good one 🙂